I do not own Dragons: Riders of Berk. Direct quotes from the series will be bolded.

Job Hunting for Gobber

Hiccup and Sunset stood in front of a blackboard in their new dragon academy. Hiccup figured that the best way to train dragons was to make sure that they knew as much as they could about them. With Sunset's idea of a trivia game, the afternoon found the teens locked in an intense battle (which Astrid and Fishlegs were winning).

"Okay, guys. Which dragon makes the best welding torch?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid waved her hand in the air. "A Deadly Nadder, obviously!"

"The magnesium flame it has burns with the heat of the sun!" Fishlegs added.

Hiccup grinned and Sunset added another tally to their margin. Astrid and Fishlegs bumped fists triumphantly. "The score is one hundred to ten," Sunset updated.

Astrid snickered, glancing at their opponents. "The sad part is you started with ten."

Tuffnut scowled. "The game's not over yet! Wait, hold up, what team am I on?"

Hiccup ignored the male twin and read off another question. "What is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback?"

"Can you even count that high?" Astrid goaded.

Ruffnut grinned wickedly. "How about we find out? Barf! Belch!"

The twins' Zippleback rose up from its resting spot from behind their owners. Six rapid fireballs were shot at the wall behind Astrid's head. Tuffnut laughed. "Three! The answer is three!"

Ruffnut high-fived her brother and smirked. "I knew we could count that high!"

"Actually, it's six." Sunset grinned. "But hey, you're half right, so I'll give you five points."

"That takes us up to thirty, right?" Snotlout asked.

Astrid got to her feet with a deadly smile. "Okay, now it's my turn to show you what happens when shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder." She whistled sharply and Stormfly jumped up, shooting tail spikes at the other team, pinning all three against the wall.

Snotlout scowled and jumped to the ground. "Answer me this; what happens when I sic a Monstrous Nightmare on your butts?"

"Training time over," Hiccup said quickly before a fight could ensue. "Great job, everyone!"

"Get ready to face some Monstrous Nightmare!" Snotlout shouted, jumping onto his dragon and patting the side of his head. Hookfang immediately flared up, causing Snotlout to yelp in pain and race over to the trough of water the dragons usually drank from. He submerged himself, sighing happily. "Oh, that feels good."

Hiccup furrowed his brow and walked over to his cousin. "He never does that when you're riding him. Is he alright?"

Astrid smirked. "Maybe he finally clued in as to who was riding him."

Snotlout gave her a flirty smile. "Hey, there's room in here for two."

Annoyed, the blonde shoved Snotlout into the water. Hiccup grinned slightly and filed out of the arena with Sunset and Toothless trailing behind. "That was...interesting," Sunset voiced.

"It went better than I expected," Hiccup admitted.

"Next time it should be us against all of them," Sunset laughed. "They wouldn't stand a chance."

The two kids entered the plaza, where they came upon a crowd of people gathered around someone they couldn't make out. Curious, Hiccup and Sunset made their way to the front of the crowd. There they saw Gobber with a wooden cart full of old weapons.

"You people may think that these old dragon killing weapons have no more use, but think again!" Gobber exclaimed. "This sword would make the perfect jelly knife."

He attempted to demonstrate and ended up turning the bread into crumbs. Sunset rubbed her forehead. "He's not being serious, is he?" she asked in disbelief.

Hiccup sighed. "We both know that he's being very serious."

"And this sword also makes perfect breadcrumbs!" Gobber quickly tried to cover up the slight mishap, but it worsened when the plate shattered. The crowd politely ignored this but gazed at Gobber with skepticism.

"A dark day when a grand dragon slayer is pawning his weapons," Mildew whispered as he came up behind the duo. Hiccup and Sunset kept their gaze ahead, attempting to ignore the man.

"This mace also makes a...good flyswatter!" Gobber spotted a fly buzzing around his show-table and he lashed out at it with the mace. The weapon destroyed the table, but the fly flew safely away. "Okay, maybe not so much." Gobber tossed the mace aside and dragged over his catapult. "For the ladies who are home alone when the husband's out pillaging, Big Bertha is just what you need to protect yourself!"

Everyone ducked as the catapult launched, shooting a rock through the nearest house. The homeowner gaped at the new hole in the middle of his wall and stared in disbelief at the crowd who stared back. The Vikings shook their heads and started to disperse.

"There's a lot more to see!" Gobber called, but it was no use. With a sigh he patted Bertha lightly. "Don't worry, old girl, I'll find you a nice home."

"The poor man has had his entire life taken away," Mildew whispered. "And it's all because you two wanted to make friends with dragons. The guilt must be eating away at you!"

Hiccup swallowed thickly and stared sadly at Gobber. Sunset glared at Mildew's retreating back before placing a hand on Hiccup's arm. "I'm going to go cheer him up. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea. See you tomorrow, Sun."

Sunset hurried off to help her caretaker pack his things away and Hiccup headed home. The redheaded girl gingerly picked up an axe and placed it in the wooden cart, catching Gobber's attention. "Ah, there you are. Haven't tried freeing the pigs again, have you?"

"You know, not eating meat isn't a terrible thing," Sunset said as she carefully arranged the swords in the cart.

Gobber snorted. "Look at you, you're skin and bones. You need some meat on you."

Sunset grinned slyly. "But I'm afraid I'll end up like you."

Gobber shoved Sunset's helmet over her emerald eyes. "Hilarious. Maybe I'll stop feeding you completely, then."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry." Sunset grinned and adjusted her Viking helmet. "So, where are we supposed to put Bertha?"

"You can put her behind the house." Gobber slapped her back with a smirk.

"What?! By myself?" Sunset exclaimed.

"Next time, think twice before making a crack about my weight." Gobber chuckled and rolled his weapon cart into the forge, leaving a disgruntled Sunset staring blankly at the massive catapult.

...

Hiccup stared at his bedroom floor, upset. Toothless sat beside him, watching the boy patiently. Finally, the boy began to speak. "Gobber made this for me," he said, pointing to his prosthetic leg. "And he actually made the tailfin you're wearing right now. He even taught me everything I needed to know in order to make the original designs for your previous tailfins. Gobber means a lot to me and I hate seeing him like this. I have to help."

Toothless cooed his encouragement, nudging Hiccup's arm.

They both glanced in the direction of the stairs when they heard Stoick enter the main room, groaning tiredly. Hiccup went downstairs to see Stoick collapsed in a wooden chair, rubbing his forehead. "Rough day?" Hiccup asked.

"I was running all over the island today," Stoick sighed. "At dawn I married the Svenson girl and that Odegard boy. Then I went down to the fields because some kids were turning over yaks-and I think I have an idea on who those kids were."

Hiccup smiled slightly, grabbing a mug and filling it with mead. "Yeah, Ruffnut and Tuffnut do enjoy a good yak tip."

Stoick snorted. "Then I had to make my way back to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute." He accepted the drink Hiccup offered. "Thank you. You know, sometimes I wish there were two of me."

Hiccup froze in the process of dropping a log into the fire. "But Dad, there are two of you!"

Stoick scowled and slammed the mug down. "That better not be another crack about my weight."

"No, no, I was talking about Gobber," Hiccup said excitedly. "He can help you!"

"But he's busy making weapons for dragon killing-" Stoick began before realizing that Gobber had no need to do such a thing. "Which is something we don't do anymore because of you and that's great...but not for Gobber."

"And that's exactly why he needs to help you," Hiccup said. "Gobber needs a job to do."

Stoick mulled this over. "That's not a bad idea. I could use a right hand man to help me with the daily jobs of chiefing."

"That's perfect, because Gobber only has his right hand." Hiccup grinned.

...

Sunset jogged over to Hiccup's house the following morning, intent on having a word with her best friend. She yanked open the front door and found him sitting at the table, sketching idly in his notebook. Toothless bounded to his feet upon seeing his girl and happily greeted her. Sunset smiled and nuzzled his nose lovingly. "Hey there, buddy. How are you?"

Toothless barked contently. Sunset took a seat across from Hiccup and Toothless immediately curled up by her feet.

"Maybe we could alternate taking care of Toothless," Hiccup suggested, closing his notebook. "I don't think it's fair if I get to hog Toothless all to myself."

"Trust me, I'd be knocking you over the head if that was what was happening," Sunset teased and rubbed Toothless' head. "I'd love it if Toothless could sleep over, but I don't think staying for a long period of time is a good idea considering Gobber tends to harbour dangerous weapons. And speaking of Gobber, I want to have a word with you."

Hiccup frowned in concern. "Is everything okay?" He thought Sunset had been adjusting pretty well to her father's abandonment of her. Then again, Gobber had really been fonder of the girl than Moonlight had ever been.

"Everything's fine, except for the fact Gobber is now Stoick's right hand man thanks to your suggestion," Sunset snapped. "Hiccup, what are you thinking?"

"Dad thought it was a good idea!" Hiccup protested.

"I think he'll change his mind by tonight," Sunset said flatly. "Hiccup, I love Gobber, but doing what Stoick does takes tact and sensitivity. Gobber has neither of those."

"I think you're being a little too negative." Hiccup crossed his arms. "I think Gobber will do a great job."

"And I think you're being a little too positive." Sunset leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on the table. "I swear, by tonight, Stoick will be here, telling us everything that Gobber did, and all of it will not be good."

"And I swear Dad will be praising me for my genius," Hiccup retorted.

Toothless growled softly in warning, making sure to prevent a real fight from occurring.

"Alright then. I will not move from this spot until your dad comes home," Sunset vowed. "I want to be here when you realize I'm right."

"And I won't move either, so I can see your face when you realize I'm right."

A moment of silence followed.

"...wanna see who can hang from the rafters the longest?"

"Bring it on, Sun."

...

Evening fell upon the village and Stoick burst into his home later than usual, his head pounding. Sunset and Hiccup immediately got up from the table and the village leader dropped into Hiccup's vacated spot. "Two blocks of ice please."

Hiccup hurried to obey. Sunset grabbed a mug and filled it with mead. She handed it to Stoick and he took a large gulp. "Thank you, Sunset."

"You're welcome." The girl glanced up when Hiccup stumbled into the house, fumbling with two blocks of ice. She helped him with the load and they gave the desired items to Stoick, who pressed them against his head.

"It couldn't have been that bad," Hiccup began.

"It was more than bad!" Stoick ranted. "Do you know what Gobber did today? He named a baby girl Magnus, told Bucket and Mulch to settle a bartering dispute with violence and made a ship out of iron."

Sunset gave Hiccup a pointed look. He glared back and turned to his father. "I think you're being a little rough on him. It was his first day after all. I'm sure tomorrow will be way better."

"Oh, it will be, because it won't involve Gobber," Stoick said firmly.

Hiccup gaped. "You let him go?! I can't believe it! He needs our help!"

"Oh, no. I don't have to do anything. You and Sunset, however, will be busy finding a new job for Gobber."

Hiccup stared in disbelief. Sunset rubbed her forehead. "Any other bright ideas?" she asked sarcastically.

"Shut up."

"Hiccup, it's rude to tell a woman to shut up. Apologize," Stoick ordered.

Hiccup felt like tearing his hair out. "I'm sorry, Sunset. I'm very sorry."

Sunset patted his shoulder. "It's all good. We can figure out something tomorrow during dragon training."

Hiccup perked up. "Sun! That's it!"

Sunset and Stoick exchanged confused glances. "What's it?"

"We'll bring Gobber to dragon training!"

"Oh, Thor help us all."

...

The next morning, Sunset and Hiccup explained the situation to their friends. None of them seemed too happy with the idea. "Gobber's coming here?" Fishlegs asked in disbelief.

"It's gonna be great," Hiccup said, mostly to assure himself than the others. "Gobber's spent a lifetime studying dragons. We'll all be better dragon trainers if we can tap into that."

The gates to the arena burst open and Gobber entered, rolling his weapon cart behind him. "Anyone miss me?"

"Gobber, why did you bring your weapons with you?" Sunset asked in exasperation.

"Well, I thought by threatening to kill them, that's how we'd train them. That's the way my daddy taught me how to swim, you know." Gobber pulled a mace from the cart and slammed it enthusiastically to the ground. "School is in session!"

Frightened, the dragons charged past Gobber and flew out of the arena. After a moment of shocked silence, the teens burst out of the arena in an attempt to chase down their dragons. Gobber blinked before shrugging. "I didn't really like school either."

"Well, uh, thank you, for that how-to-scare-your-dragon tactic," Hiccup drawled. "That's all for today."

"Really? I like this job." Gobber walked cheerfully out of the arena, dragging his cart behind him.

Sunset collapsed beside Toothless. "I can't believe that just happened."

Hiccup stared at the spot in the sky where the dragons disappeared. "They're gonna come back right?"

"If I were them, I wouldn't," Sunset muttered, pushing her helmet over her eyes. "I'm taking a nap. The stress is killing me."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and sat beside his friend, allowing her to rest while he doodled in his notebook.

His friends and their dragons wouldn't be gone long...hopefully.

...

Roughly four hours had passed since the dragons had made their escape. Just as Hiccup was about to give up and head home, his friends flew through the gates, tired and irritated. "Yeah, sorry about that," Sunset apologized, getting to her feet and walking over to the teens with Hiccup behind her.

Hiccup tilted his head to the side as he watched his friends arch their backs, moaning. "What's wrong?"

"We've been flying our dragons for four hours straight to get them to calm down," Astrid sighed. "And this is after we chased them for about, I don't know, forever."

"I don't think it's going to work having Gobber here," Sunset voiced. "His methods are a little...too violent."

"What are we going to do with him, then?" Hiccup asked. Sunset shrugged, not having an answer.

Whump. Whump. Whump.

The teens turned to see Ruffnut kicking Tuffnut's butt repeatedly. "Fighting isn't the answer," Sunset lectured.

"It's cool, I asked her to do this. I need to get some feeling in my butt," Tuffnut groaned. Ruffnut landed one more kick, which Tuffnut felt. He jerked in pain and gingerly rubbed his behind.

"Time to return the favour," Ruffnut snapped, turning around and bending over.

"Huh. Sunset and I have flown on Toothless for hours without going numb," Hiccup remarked.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, not all of us can have saddles, you know."

Hiccup grinned broadly. "That's it! Come on, Sun."

"Here we go," Sunset muttered. She and Toothless chased after Hiccup, leaving behind a confused group of dragon riders.

...

The kids and their dragon raced to Gobber's forge. "Gobber!" Hiccup called, peering into the shop. "I have a job for you."

"Oh really?" Gobber asked, amused. He glanced up from his sword polishing and eyed his former apprentice. "And what might that be?"

"I need you to make some saddles for the other dragons," Hiccup explained, holding his papers full of diagrams and ideas.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Gobber exclaimed. He snatched the papers from Hiccup's hands and flicked through them, unimpressed. "But these aren't. I can do much better."

Hiccup quickly gathered his papers from the floor where Gobber had tossed them. "It's great that you're excited, but I think there are some things from my design that you could use. You were the one who taught me everything I know."

"And that's exactly why you should let me do what I do best," Gobber responded, grabbing a hammer and getting to work. "I've been making saddles since you were in diapers. And I made your diapers too."

Hiccup flushed. "Just remember that every dragon is different and that you need to adjust-"

"Hiccup…"

"I really think you should-"Sunset began.

"Sunset.

"But-"

"Hicc. Up. Sun. Set. I taught Hiccup everything he knows, but not everything I know," Gobber stated firmly, not open to any objections.

Sunset and Hiccup exchanged glances before shrugging and walking out of the forge, leaving Gobber to do what Gobber does.

...

"Hiccup!"

The boy grumbled and rolled over, eyes fluttering open. He let out a soft yelp of surprise when he spotted Sunset leaning over him. Toothless jolted at the sound and let a menacing growl. He quickly stopped when he realized it was just his girl. He cooed in greeting and Sunset rubbed him on the head.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup hissed, climbing out of bed. "If Dad heard you sneaking through the house, you never would have made it to my bedroom!"

"Good thing Stoick is a heavy sleeper," Sunset remarked. "Come on, you gotta see this!"

"Sun, I don't care if a another sheep is giving birth-"

"Not that. It's Gobber!"

Hiccup immediately grabbed his vest and yanked it on. "What's wrong? Is he okay? Did he lose another hand?"

"He's fine, but...he's singing."

Hiccup stared at his friend in surprise. "Seriously?"

Sunset nodded.

"This I gotta see."

"Why do you think I woke you up?" Sunset grinned and the trio left the house, jogging over to Gobber's forge. They stood a few yards away, listening intently.

"I've got my axe and I got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face! I'm a Viking through and through!" Gobber sang as he worked, his voice strangely soothing in the dark night.

Hiccup smiled. "He only sings that song when he's happy."

"I think we finally did it, Hiccup." Sunset grinned.

Toothless growled in agreement, watching the man his kids were so fond of contently.

...

Gobber worked all through the night so that the saddles would be ready by the next morning. Hiccup and Sunset stood beside the heavy blanket that hid the new accessories from view. "Okay guys, this is it," Hiccup announced. "Gob-"

"I have made many a saddle in my day," Gobber interrupted, pushing Hiccup aside. The boy allowed the man to make his own speech, a slight smile on his face. "And now I can proudly say I've made a dragon one! These saddles are like my children." He gave the blanket a loving pat. "Children that you strap to a flaming reptile and fly on. Ta-da!"

Gobber yanked the blanket off of his creations, revealing several unique saddles. The teens gasped in awe. Hiccup and Sunset, on the other hand, were less than pleased.

"This is the complete opposite of what I was expecting," Hiccup said flatly.

"Of course it is!" Gobber said cheerfully. "No one knows what it's like to live up here." He gave his head a solid rap.

Sunset peered at the saddle closest to her and gaped. "Gobber! Is that a flamethrower?"

"It is!" Gobber confirmed. He demonstrated the flamethrower and grinned. "I bet you didn't see that one coming."

Hiccup rubbed his forehead. "Considering that dragons come with a built-in one, no I didn't."

"You can never have too much firepower," Gobber said.

Hiccup and Sunset turned to the twins to see what their saddle was like. Much to their dismay, they found the twins loading small rocks into their built-in catapults. Ruffnut and Tuffnut launched their projectiles only to have the rocks strike the heads of Barf and Belch.

"Bad idea," Hiccup muttered.

"You should not be able to make something like a saddle violent!" Sunset moaned.

Hiccup patted her shoulder comfortingly. "We forget, this is Gobber."

Gobber glanced at Fishlegs, who was having difficulty getting Meatlug off of the ground due to their heavy mace-laden saddle. "There is no way that saddle is heavier than Fishlegs."

"I'm husky," Fishlegs said indigently.

Snotlout, however, couldn't get his saddle on Hookfang at all. The dragon kept snapping and shooting fire whenever he came too close with the accessory. "Hookfang, what's your deal?" Snotlout asked in exasperation.

He attempted to pet him, but Hookfang pulled away with a snarl. "Alright, someone's trading with me."

Tuffnut snorted. "Oh yeah, I'm so gonna give away my perfect dragon for an angry one."

Astrid was the lucky one. Stormfly did not object to her saddle and it was comfortable. After a test run, Astrid landed her dragon back in the arena. "This one's pretty good."

"Give the horn a try," Gobber encouraged.

Against her better judgement, Astrid blew into the built-in horn. A foghorn-like blast echoed through the ring, startling Stormfly and causing her to shoot spikes in a random direction. Unfortunately for Snotlout, it was in his direction.

"First time wasn't cool," he snapped as he got pinned to the wall. "And the second time definitely isn't cool."

"Okay," Hiccup said loudly. "I think a few-"

"Changes need to be made?" Gobber finished. "Way ahead of you! I got so many ideas this thing can't keep up." He gave his helmet another tap.

Hiccup and Sunset stared at each other helplessly.

What were they going to do?

...

"There have been many horrible days in my life," Sunset remarked as she cleaned up what was left of Gobber's saddles. "But I think today takes the cake."

"I've had worse," Hiccup sighed as he swept the floor of the arena. When he got to the spot where Toothless was resting, he snapped his fingers and motioned for his dragon to move. Toothless obeyed, occupying a different section of the floor.

The orangey-red glow of the setting sun cast a warm light on the ring as the kids cleaned. But neither of them was feeling the warmth on the inside.

Stoick entered the arena and stared around in surprise. "Thor almighty! This place looks worse than when we were killing dragons in here."

"We got Gobbered," Sunset explained, gingerly tossing a broken axe head into the garbage pile.

"That's Gobber for you. He always means well, but doesn't always do well," Stoick agreed. "What are you going to do about him?"

"Clean up his messes and fix his work," Hiccup and Sunset answered in unison.

Stoick frowned with disapproval. "Listen, Gobber's like family-"

Hiccup tossed his broom to the ground in frustration and turned to his father. "And that's why I can't say anything to him!"

"No, that's why you have to say something to him. It's not fair to you or Gobber or Sunset if you don't."

Hiccup scowled. "How come you didn't say anything? All you did was pass him off to me!"

"I'm a chief. A chief delegates," Stoick said matter-of-factly. At Hiccup's disbelieving look, he pressed on. "Hiccup, I gave you and Sunset this academy because I knew it was the best thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the academy." He placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and guided him towards the exit. "And what's best is hardly what's easy. Come along, Sunset. That's enough for today."

Sunset gladly dropped what she was doing and ran over to the departing duo. Toothless yawned and followed behind. The group walked past Snotlout, who was still pinned to the wall, sleeping. "What about Snotlout?"

"He's aiming for a new record," Hiccup said idly.

"Ah. I see."

"You know who I think is qualified to talk to Gobber?" Hiccup asked aloud as they walked down the slope leading to the village. "Sunset."

Sunset shook her head frantically. "I live with the guy! I don't want to be the cause of his broken heart and hear about it every day."

"It'll be a softer blow coming from you!"

"No it won't!"

"Yes it will!"

"No it won't!"

"Yes it will!"

"Enough!" Stoick boomed. "You're both going to tell him, and that's an order."

"Yes Dad," Hiccup mumbled.

"Yes sir," Sunset sighed.

The village leader gave the kids a nudge in the direction of Gobber's forge. With heavy hearts the teens shuffled over to the man, with Toothless following behind loyally. "Maybe Gobber decided to use your ideas for the saddle," Sunset said hopefully.

"It's a possibility," Hiccup agreed.

A loud bang erupted from Gobber's shop, a grey cloud smoke enveloping the teens. "Okay, probably not," Hiccup groaned.

Sunset and Hiccup entered the forge and found Gobber at his workbench. "Hey, Gobber."

Startled, the man whirled around and aimed a cross-bow in their direction. Sunset yelped and Hiccup threw his hands over his head. "I come in peace!"

"Make a little noise next time!" Gobber snapped, lowering his weapon.

"Sorry," Hiccup apologized. "Listen, Gobber, about the saddles-"

"Ah, yes. I think the catapults were a bit much for the dragons, so I've gotten rid of the two big ones."

Sunset and Hiccup grinned with relief. "That's perfect."

"And I've replaced them with six tiny ones!" Gobber showed the teens a miniature catapult with a proud smile.

Hiccup and Sunset sighed. It was hopeless. "Listen, Gobber..." Hiccup said carefully. "I think it's time for you to take a break."

"Hiccup, Vikings don't take breaks," Gobber pointed out, going back to work.

"Okay, break is the wrong word." He looked at Sunset helplessly.

The girl swallowed nervously. "What Hiccup is trying to say is that we're not sure things are working out."

Gobber blinked, caught off guard for only a second before shrugging and continuing to pound away at a nail. "Alrighty. Get back to me when you're sure."

"I'm sure," Hiccup said firmly. "Gobber, I have to take you off the saddle project."

The hammering stopped. Gobber turned around, attempting to mask his hurt. "So...you're getting rid of me?"

"Only the saddles," Sunset said quickly, feeling awful. "We'll find something else for you to do."

Gobber snorted, facing away from the teens. "I've lost an arm and a leg, so I think I can survive losing a job. I don't need pity."

Hiccup desperately tried to think of something that would make Gobber feel better, but couldn't think of anything. "I'm sorry, Gobber," Hiccup said, patting his back comfortingly.

"See you back home," Sunset whispered and the kids left the forge and entered the dark night. "Worst thing ever," she said flatly.

"I really don't know what could be worse than that," Hiccup agreed.

A cacophony of screams came from the plaza. Hiccup squinted and could see fire blasts being fired in all directions, sending Vikings running in the opposite direction. "Well, actually, that could be worse."

Snotlout came tearing from behind a house, Hookfang following close behind. The enraged Monstrous Nightmare roared, spitting lava in the process. Spotting the dragon trainers, Snotlout hurried over to them. "Okay, I never thought I'd say this, but help!" Snotlout cried, shaking Hiccup frantically.

Hookfang jumped onto a roof, breathing massive streams of fire and rubbing the side of his face against the rough roof. Vikings flew from their houses to get somewhere safe. Hookfang snarled and jumped back into the middle of the plaza with a mighty roar.

"Everyone out of the plaza!" Stoick boomed, striding onto the scene. "This dragon is out of control!"

"I don't know what's going on," Snotlout said desperately. "I was rubbing his head, like he normally loves, but instead he went crazy! Hookfang hates me!"

Stoick ventured deeper into the plaza with Hiccup, Sunset and Snotlout following. The other dragon riders had gathered a distance away, observing Hookfang, who had calmed down somewhat.

"You know, they say after a while the pet will take on characteristics of its owner," Fishlegs spoke up. "That's probably what's happening here."

Snotlout frowned and half-heartedly punched Fishlegs in the stomach, proving the large boy's point.

Hiccup and Sunset stepped closer to Hookfang. "Do you remember the last time he ate?" Hiccup questioned.

"It's been days," Snotlout answered, concerned.

Sunset snagged a piece of fish from a nearby barrel and tossed it to Hiccup. "It's okay," Hiccup said softly, holding the fish out. "You're probably hungry." He tossed the fish into Hookfang's eager mouth. But after a few chews, the dragon cried out in pain and spit the food out. Hiccup winced when the chunk of fish landed in Stoick's beard. "Sorry!"

Not impressed, Stoick removed the fish and tossed it over his shoulder, where Toothless gladly ate it. "This dragon needs to be brought under control."

"We got this," Sunset assured him. She approached Hookfang carefully and placed a hand on his nose. "Everything's going to be okay, boy," she said soothingly, patting him lightly on the jaw.

Hookfang went wild, rearing up and lighting on fire, lava spewing from his mouth.

"Sunset, run!" Astrid shouted. Toothless bolted past her and landed in front of Sunset, preventing Hookfang from harming her. Sunset and Hiccup raced over to the other Vikings, watching in concern as Toothless fought with the enraged Monstrous Nightmare.

Hiccup watched anxiously as Toothless and Hookfang circled each other, growling. Hookfang shot a fire blast, but it missed Toothless and lit the house behind the Night Fury on fire. "Toothless, stop!" Hiccup ordered, not wanting any harm to come to either dragon or any more houses.

"This is it," Stoick said firmly, placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Your way isn't working. I'm sorry." He then raced off-in the direction of Gobber's forge.

Hiccup watched him go in dismay. "He's not gonna do what I think he's gonna do, is he?"

"I don't know," Sunset said. "Hiccup, we have to do something!"

"I know! But I don't know what's wrong with him." Hiccup frowned and watched as Hookfang crawled about the plaza, growling madly. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

Snotlout glanced over his shoulder and froze in terror. "Hiccup, why is your dad coming back with Gobber?"

Gobber stood in front of the teens, heavily armed. "Everyone get back. I'm here to do what I do best."

"He's gonna kill Hookfang!" Snotlout cried, distraught.

"He's not," Hiccup said, although he didn't quite believe himself.

Tuffnut snorted. "Yeah, because you totally bring stuff like that to help a dragon."

"Dad, Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon," Hiccup said desperately, approaching his father.

"He's a really good dragon," Sunset added, growing sick by the very idea of seeing Hookfang slain in the plaza.

"He's a really good dragon," Snotlout agreed, eyes welling up with tears.

"There's just something wrong with him," Hiccup said, hoping to persuade his father to give Hookfang a chance.

"There is most definitely something wrong with him," Snotlout sobbed.

"Hookfang is just having a bad day and we can't get rid of him for that!" Hiccup cried, seeing that his father wasn't being moved.

"One bad day equals disaster for us," Stoick said firmly. "I'm not willing to take that risk." He gave Snotlout an apologetic look before turning to Gobber. "Go ahead."

Gobber pushed through the crowd, determined. He used a couple of bolas to tie Hookfang's legs and wings together. Frightened and in pain, Hookfang attempted to breathe fire, but none came out. Gobber advanced, sword drawn. "You're all out."

"No!" Sunset shrieked, racing forwards and latching onto Gobber's arm. "I refuse to let this happen!"

Hiccup hurried over and helped Sunset keep Gobber's sword arm down. "Me too," he said firmly.

"There's no other choice," Gobber snapped, trying to shake the stubborn kids off.

Hookfang lit up with fire and burned through the bonds. He let out a mighty roar right in their faces. Gobber, Hiccup and Sunset stared into Hookfang's open mouth with shock. "Do you see what I see?" Gobber asked.

Hiccup and Sunset nodded, letting go of Gobber and retreating. "Alright, dragon, it's time to put you out of your misery."

Astrid gaped when Hiccup and Sunset did nothing to stop him. "What are you doing?!"

Hiccup did not respond. He and Sunset watched intently as Gobber lunged onto Hookfang's snout. The dragon snorted and tried shaking him off, but it was no use. Gobber managed to latch onto his jaw when Hookfang roared furiously. After a few seconds of frantic shaking, Hookfang managed to toss Gobber off. The Monstrous Nightmare slowly scratched his jaw before purring happily.

Snotlout beamed. "You didn't kill my dragon!"

Gobber held up a large dragon tooth, which had a cavity in it. "Kill a dragon for a toothache? What kind of lunatic do you take me for?" He winked at the relieved boy.

Hookfang waddled over and nuzzled Snotlout in the stomach. Snotlout laughed and hugged his dragon before remembering where he was. "Stop, stop." He got to his feet and coughed awkwardly. "Don't know where that came from."

Everyone rolled their eyes with a smirk before dispersing. Hiccup and Sunset approached Gobber. "I can't believe we didn't think of a bad tooth." Sunset slapped her forehead.

"That's because you're not me," Gobber said cheerfully. "Well, time to put the old girls away."

Hiccup rubbed his chin in thought before brightening. "Hold on, Gobber! I have an idea."

...

The following day, Hiccup and Sunset sat on a slope overlooking Gobber's shop. A line of dragons and their riders stretched far into the village, all waiting for Gobber to check out their dragon's teeth. "You know," Hiccup spoke. "The good men find a way to change with the world. Gobber is one of those good men."

Sunset smiled fondly. "Actually, he's one of the best."

"I've got my axe and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face! I'm a Viking through and throoooough!"