Disclaimer: I do not own How to train your dragon or the franchise.
Chapter 2: Viking for Hire
Everybody needs a place in the world. Some people are born to theirs.
Flashback to a ship with Viking warrior, lead by chief Stoick the Vast.
"Raise the main sail! Turn her toward starboard!" Stoick ordered.
"Aye, sir!"
Some people discover theirs.
Another, more familiar, flashback is shown with Hiccup and Hicca touching Toothless and Midnight for the first time, creating the new bonds.
And some people make a place for themselves.
A third flashback shows the time when it was Vikings against dragons. The dragons are raiding the village again and Gobber is at the forge, making weapons for the warriors.
"Grab any weapon you see! Don't be picky!" The blacksmith shouted, pushing the weapon cart.
Gobber then grabs his own prosthetic weapon and charges into the battlefield.
But then the world around them changes, and the place they made is gone.
Back to the current day, where there is now peace between Vikings and dragons, Gobber is finishing another sword in the forge. Once he finished, he held it up admiring his work. But then he looked around and saw the Vikings and dragons interacting peacefully. With a sigh, he tossed the sword in the cart with the other weapons, realizing that no one needs weapons anymore.
Meanwhile in the new Berk Dragon Academy, Hiccup and Hicca are quizzing the rest of the teens on dragons. The six teens are split into two teams: Astrid, Raeda and Fishlegs on one team, and Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut on the other.
"Every species of dragons has its own unique abilities that sets them apart from other species of dragons. Which dragon makes the best welding torch?" Hiccup asked to Team Astrid
"Deadly Nadder!" Astrid and Raeda said excitedly at the same time
"Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun!" Fishlegs added with equal enthusiasm.
"Correct! Point to Team Astrid. Score is now 100 to 10." Hiccup announced while his sister added the score to the scoreboard.
"And you guys started out with 10." Astrid said to the Team Snotlout.
"Oh, yeah? Well, the game's not over." Tuffnut retorted but then he got confused "Wait, what team am I on?"
"Next question. This one should be easy for you guys. What is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout." Hicca said, reading her journal.
"Easy? For them? I don't think so." Raeda said.
"Yeah, they can't even count that high." Astrid added causing Fishlegs to giggle.
Ruffnut smirked as an idea came to her "Oh, is that so? Let's see about that. Barf? Belch?" The Thorston twins' Zippleback raised their heads at one of their riders' command and shot six consecutive fireballs at Team Astrid, who managed to duck behind the barrels in time.
"Looks like it's about three." Tuffnut said, holding two fingers up. He was oblivious to the fact that he just supported Astrids' statement.
"Told you we could count that high!" Ruffnut said, also oblivious.
"Yeah...not quite." Hicca said. "The correct answer is six, as Barf and Belch have just demonstrated. Since you gave half that number, you get half points."
"Yes! We're up to 30! We'll catch up in no time!" Ruffnut cheered, hi-fiving her brother and Snotlout.
Before either Hiccup or Hicca could ask the next question, Astrid jumped over the barrel, not happy with being shot by fire "Alright, it's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at one of the owners of a Deadly Nadder?" She then whistled for Stormfly, who shoots her tail spikes at Team Snotlout, pinning them to the wall.
"No fair! We didn't get to answer that!" Tuffnut complained, hanging from the wall.
Snotlout managed to free himself from the wall and walked towards Hookfang. "I've got a question. What happens when I set Hookfang on you?"
"Chaos." Hicca answered worriedly.
Hiccup tried to avert the oncoming fight "Okay, guys, that's enough training for today. So... we made some really great progress-"
Snotlout ignores Hiccup and prepares to fight "Prepare to face the wrath of a Monstrous Nightmare!" Snotlout pats Hookfangs' jaw, causing the dragon to suddenly rear up and set himself on fire, burning Snotlouts' butt, causing the boy to panic. "AH! SERIOUSLY! AGAIN?!" Snotlout shouted. He then jumps into a nearby water tub, extinguishing the fire "Aahhh... sweet relief." He sighed.
This made Hiccup confused "Hookfang never flames up when you're on him. Is he okay?" He asked.
"He seems fine now." Hicca noted.
"Maybe he just realized who his owner is." Astrid said sarcastically.
"There's plenty of room here, Astrid." Snotlout said, flirting with Astrid. Astrid grabs his helmet and shoves him underwater in retaliation.
Later on in the plaza, Gobber rallies a crowd, with Hiccup and Hicca in it, and tries to get them interested in buying his weapons.
"Gather around! Come on, one and all! You may think these dragon-killing weapons have no more worth, but think again! They have more than one purpose! Like this long sword, for example. It is now a lovely butter knife!" Gobber demonstrates this by using the sword to spread butter in on bread. However, the sword only succeeded in turning the bread into crumbs "Eh. It is also a bread shredder." Gobber said nervously, trying to cover it up. The plate then breaks. "And a plate breaker." He then clears his throat. "Moving on."
Mildew, who was also in the crowd, comes up to the Haddock twins. "Well, this is a dark day. A once great dragon slayer trying to pass off his well crafted weapons as kitchen utensils? Hm. Tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk." He said in mock-pity, causing the twins to glare at him.
Gobber then holds up a mace "Up next, how about this..." Gobber hesitated as he tried to find a purpose for the mace. He saw a fly on the table and got an idea "...handy flyswatter?" To demonstrate, Gobber brought the mace down and smashes the table, causing the crowd to gasp. No way where they going to use a mace for that "He-he. Also good for chopping uneven tables." Gobber said. The fly he was trying to get then emerges from the wrecked table, completely unharmed. Gobber decides to move on and walks over to a large catapult. "Now, I have saved the best for last! This is for the lady of the house! When the hubby's off pillaging, how are you to protect yourself from home invaders? Easy answer: Big Bertha!" Suddenly, the catapult flings open, hurling a stone into Silent Sven's house. That was the last straw for the crowd, as they disperse while murmuring. Gobber franticly tries to get their attention again. "Hey, wait! Come back! I have plenty of other useful weapons here!" After seeing that everyone left uninterested, the blacksmith sighed, giving up "It's okay Bertha. I will find you a home." He said, patting the catapult
Mildew decides to use this to guilt the Haddock twins "Ah, it's hard to watch. Especially for you two, eh, Hicca and Hiccup? The feelings of guilt must be tearing at your insides. I mean, you two were the cause of this, with your dragons. Poor man doesn't have a purpose anymore." He said mockingly, walking off. The twins continued to glare at him, but they can't help feeling that he may be right.
Later that evening, Hiccup is in his bedroom with Hicca, Toothless and Midnight and he and sister discussed Gobbers' dilemma.
Hiccup sighed "You know this wouldn't have come if Gobber hadn't taught me how to design and build things?" He said, gesturing to his prosthetic leg "He taught us everything we needed to know to make Toothless' tail, sis. We gotta find some way to help him."
"I agree, but how?" Hicca asked.
Their discussion was interrupted when their dad entered the house, very exhausted. He set his helmet down and took a seat. Hiccup and Hicca comes downstairs to greet him.
"Long day of chiefing, Dad?" Hiccup asked.
Stoick sighed "I was all over the island, again. I married the Svensson girl to the Odegaard boy at dawn. Then I went down to the field to stop some kids from yak-tipping, again. Then I was called back to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute. I guess that honeymoon's over already." Stoick said as Hicca brought him a mug of ale, while Hiccup put more logs in the fire
"Something to look forward to when your time comes, huh bro?" Hicca whispered to her brother.
"Ugh! Don't remind me." Hiccup whispered back.
"Sometimes I wish there were two of me." Stoick wished.
This gave Hiccup an idea "Dad, th-there are two of you!"
Hicca thought about her brothers' statement for a second and caught on to his idea "He's right!"
Stoick, however, got the wrong idea "Are you two making another joke about my weight again?!" He demanded.
"No, I mean Gobber. He can be the other you." Hiccup explained.
"Yeah, he can take half of your work." Hicca added.
"Gobber? Well, he's way too busy making all those dragon-killing..." He started to say, but he realized what he was going to say when he saw the look on his kids faces "Well, used to be, until you-" Realizing that what he was going to say next wasn't any better, Stoick skipped to the point "Which is great! Except for Gobber."
"Exactly our point!" Hiccup stated.
Stoick considers this before saying "You know, that's actually not such a bad idea. I could use a right hand."
"Which works out great, 'cause that's kind of the only one he has." Hiccup joked.
"Which makes him perfect for the job." Hicca said.
The next day, Stoick asked Gobber to be his right hand man. Gobber immediately accepted and the two men went to the plaza and discussed the plan for the day.
"I greatly appreciate you helping me out, Gobber." Stoick said to his friend.
"I'm just glad I could find time in my busy schedule, Stoick." Gobber lied.
Knowing his friend doesn't actually have a busy schedule, Stoick ignored that. He then takes out a small sheet of paper with all the tasks needed to be done and splits in half; one for him and one for Gobber. "We've got a lot to do today. So this is your half of tasks." He said, handing one half of the paper to Gobber.
"Okay, these tasks look simple enough." Gobber said, looking at his half of the paper.
"Now remember, some of these situations are delicate. They require diplomacy." Stoick informed him.
"Ah, not a problem. I can do just that." Gobber said optimistically.
That caught Stoick by surprise "Really? You are able to talk to people with tact and sensitivity?"
It seemed that Gobber thought diplomacy meant something else "Oh, that's what 'diplomacy' means? I thought it meant 'hit first and ask questions later. But I can try it your way." He shrugged.
Stoick watched his friend walk away and sighed. He hoped he made the right choice.
In the Great Hall, Gobber is leading a naming ceremony for a new-born baby. "Whosoever brings this child forth into the Hooligan tribe, let he be known!" The parents step forward, bringing their new-born baby. Gobber cradled the baby in his real hand. "As a representative of the chief, I welcome this baby into the Hooligan tribe. And pronounce the name to be..." Gobber paused as the father whispered the babys' name "Eeh. Hildegard? She doesn't look like one, we'll name her Magnus."
"But she's a girl, Gobber!" The mother said, offended.
"Don't worry, she's not gonna look like one. Magnus it is!" Gobber said in reassurance. It didn't really make things better for the parents "And please accept this teething toy on behalf of Stoick the Vast." He said, holding up a mace.
"No!" The mother yelled, horrified, taking her baby and holding her close.
Later, Gobber is at Mulch and Bucket's house, trying to settle a dispute between the two.
"Bucket says you bought a sheep from him, but you have not paid up." Gobber said to Mulch.
"I have never bought any sheep from him!" Mulch said defensively. But his lie was caught as a baa is heard and a sheep is seen behind Mulch.
"Who's that? A little woman?" Gobber asked sarcastically.
"Oh, Mulch. You're cheating me now?" Bucket said, hurt by this.
"Alright men, there is only one clear way to handle this." Gobber declared. He then handed a hammer to Bucket and a mace to Mulch. Gobber walks out, leaving the two farmers/fishermen to fight it out. There's an awkward moment of silence before the two raise their weapons. Outside, Gobber smiles and crosses an item off his list. "This diplomacy is like replacing my prosthetics. Okay, what's next?"
He then went on to his next task, which was to repair one of the boats. Gobber, however, had a different idea on repairing the boat. He used metal slabs on the boat instead.
"I know the conventional thinking when repairing a ship is wood. But if you ask me, there's nothing like a good, old slab of iron! Ha! Nothing's getting through this!" Gobber said to a nearby Viking.
Stoick, along with Hildegard/Magnus's parents, Mulch, and Bucket, approaches Gobber. It was clear that the chief had a talk with all four people.
"Gobber! What are you doing?" Stoick asked in frustration.
"Just finishing another task." Gobber said smiling, oblivious to the problems he had created. He then takes out his list and checks off the recent task. He taps the ship once with his hammer-hand. The ship suddenly slips off the dock and into the water, where the weight of the iron only makes it sink. "And adding a new item on the list. 'Recover and fix sunken ship.'" He said adding it to the list. "Same time tomorrow?" Gobber asked the chief nonchalantly. Stoick sighs in exasperation.
That evening, Stoick is placing two blocks of ice on his head, trying to ease the headache caused by the added amount of work, thanks to Gobber. Hiccup hands him a mug of ale.
"Here you go, Dad." Hiccup said. He looks at the ice-block "Wow. A two-block headache. You know, Dad, Hicca and I think you were a bit tough on Gobber. It was his only first day. Tomorrow will be a different story."
"Oh, it definitely will be, because Gobber will not be a part of it." Stoick declared.
"What?" Hiccup asked, confused.
"It was just his first day, dad. He just needs time to learn how to handle things properly." Hicca said, trying to defend her mentor.
Stoick removed his ice-block "Forget it, I tried to fit a square peg in a round hole, and it sunk a ship and named a baby girl Magnus! Now I'm not saying she didn't look like a Magnus, but try telling that to her parents."
"I can't believe you fired him just like that! We need to help him!" Hiccup said.
"We don't have to do anything. You and Hicca, on the other hand, are going to be very busy finding a job for Gobber." Stoick said, to his childrens' surprise and dismay.
The next day, the teens and their dragons are gathered at the Academy as Hicca and Hiccup tells them their newly made plan.
"You're bringing Gobber here?" Fishlegs asked cautiously.
"He's gonna be great. Gobber knows a lot about dragons by... studying them. This can really help us be better dragon trainers." Hiccup said trying to sound optimistic.
"Yeah, he would know a lot more about dragons' strengths and weaknesses than Hiccup and I would. That can be helpful." Hicca said with equal optimism.
"Something tells me this isn't going to end well." Raeda said.
Suddenly, the door burst open and in comes Gobber, lugging a whole cart-full of weapons. The dragons are clearly intimidated at the sight of the weapons. What was he going to with them?
"Ready for training!" Gobber said cheerfully.
"There it is." Raeda said, sighing as her prediction seems more and more likely.
Hiccup walked up to his mentor, weary about the fact that he brought weapons "First of all, welcome. And second... tiny question, why did you bring your, you know...?"
"Weapons? I thought maybe we could motivate them by threatening to kill them." Gobber explained taking out an unusual-looking sword mixed with an axe and a mace "That's how my daddy taught me to swim." He slams the weapon into the ground, breaking the ground. "Class is in session students!"
That did it for the dragons as all of them, except for Toothless and Midnight, flew out of the Arena, deciding to skip todays' lesson.
'I'm out of here!'-Hookfang
'I'm calling in sick today!' –Meatlug
'This guy is crazy!'-Sparkfire
'That's an understatement!'-Stormfly
'Everyone dragon for themselves!'- Barf
'I'm with you!'-Belch
Raeda, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut ran after their dragons.
"Eh. I didn't like school either." Gobber said shrugging, oblivious to the reason why the dragons left.
Hiccup and Hicca waited at the Academy, hoping that the other riders would come back. They were about to go look for them when Astrid, Raeda, Ruffnut and Tuffnut came back with their dragons.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Hiccup asked, noticing the four teens' discomforts when they got off their dragons.
"Ugh. We've been riding our dragons for four hours." Astrid groaned, glaring at Stormfly. "It took forever to chase them down after Gobber scared them away."
"Some of us took more time than others finding them." Raeda said, glaring at Sparkfire.
'Sorry.' –Sparkfire
'He had a weird axe/mace type weapon!'- Stormfly
Hiccup sighed "Yeah, Hicca and I are sorry about that. We just don't know what to do with him."
"We need find him something for him that's more in his forte." Hicca said.
They then see Ruffnut kicking Tuffnuts' butt "Do you guys always have to fight?" Hicca asked. "Hiccup and I don't even fight half as much as you two do."
"It's okay. I asked her to do that. I was just trying to get the feeling back." Tuffnut informed them.
After Ruffnut finished kicking him, she bends down "You gonna return the favour or what?"
"Hicca and I have flown for hours on Toothless and Midnight and neither of us ever had a problem." Hiccup said confused.
"That's because both of you have saddles." Astrid said miserably.
This gave the Haddock twins another idea "Saddles!" they said in unison
They went to the forge, where Gobber was, and told their mentor their new plan.
"Saddles? I love it! I've got so many ideas!" Gobber said excitedly. He took a look at the Haddock twins' drawings and tosses them aside "But not like these. Good ones."
"Hicca and I are glad you're excited about this." Hiccup said. "But we still think there are some things in our designs you could use. I mean, you did teach us everything we know."
"Exactly. That's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best. I've been making saddles since you were in diapers. In fact, I made your diapers." Gobber informed them.
"Okay. That's information that's better off not knowing." Hicca said shaking her head.
Hiccup ignored that and tried to get his point across "I know you know what you're doing. But keep in mind, every dragon is different. So you need to adjust the-"
"Hiccup." Gobber said, interrupting him.
"But-"
"Hiccup."
"But, I just think-"
"Hicc. Up. I may have taught you and Hicca everything you two know, but I haven't taught you two everything I know." Gobber informed him.
"He's got a point, bro. He's been a blacksmith even before we were born." Hicca pointed out.
Hiccup decides to give in and leaves with his sister. Gobber then got to work on the designs for the saddles.
Later on in the night Hiccup, Hicca, Toothless and Midnight could hear Gobber singing in the forge while working.
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 through! Hmmm!
"You know, he only sings that song when he wants to celebrate something. This new plan is really working out well." Hiccup said hopeful.
"It will be interesting to see what kind of saddles he'll make for tomorrow, considering he's not going with our designs." Hicca said.
The next day at the Academy, the teens and their dragons are gathered to see Gobber's handiwork.
"Alright, this is an exciting day for all of us. Gobber has been working hard to-" Hiccup started to announce.
Gobber interrupted him "Let them hear some words from the blacksmith himself." He proudly continued the announcement "I've made a lot of saddles in my day. Horse, donkey and now, dragon. But these saddles are special. They're like my children; that is if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rode it. So without further ado-" He unveils the saddles.
Unfortunately, Hiccup and Hicca noticed that these saddles were a bit different.
"Wow, Gobber. This-this is certainly not what Hicca or I would come up with." Hiccup said surprised
Gobber, not understanding what Hiccup meant replied cheerfully "How could it be? I'm Gobber! Nobody knows what it's like to live in here." He tapped his head with his prosthetic hand.
"Unfortunately, that is true." Hicca muttered, now worried about the outcome of this.
Hiccup notices the saddle design for Snotlout and saw that it had an added feature "I-is that what I think it is?" He stuttered.
"Yep! Flamethrower." Gobber said. He gave a demonstration of the flamethrower. "Took you by surprise, huh?"
"Uh...definitely. Especially since it's for fire-breathing dragons." Hiccup replied.
"I know, but can ya ever really have to much firepower?" Gobber asked, still not understanding Hiccups' point.
"For a dragon with the ability to coat itself with flames?" Hicca asked rhetorically.
The Thorston twins loaded large rocks into each of their catapults that were built on their saddles and launch them, only to have both Barf and Belch struck in the head. They fall to the ground.
"Ow!" Ruffnut yelled as she fell off her dragons' head.
"Really? You gave catapults to Ruffnut and Tuffnut?" Hicca asked, raising her eyebrows. Gobber just shrugs.
"Uh, Gobber?" Raeda called out getting their attention. "How am I supposed to get on this thing?" She asked, looking at her saddle strapped onto Sparkfire. The saddle was outlined with spikes, making it impossible for the raven haired girl to get on the saddle without getting stabbed.
Fishlegs' saddle is equipped with four large maces, which Meatlug has a hard time staying above ground with. "You can do it, girl! Think light." Fishlegs said, encouraging his dragon. Meatlug got tired and fell to the ground.
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs!" Gobber said.
"My mom says I'm just husky." Fishlegs replied sensitively.
Snotlout tries to put his flamethrower saddle on Hookfang, but the dragon refuses, throwing it off and thrashing around.
"Come on, Hookfang. What's wrong with you?" Snotlout asked getting frustrated. He tried putting his hand on Hookfangs' snout but the dragon just turned away "That's it. I'm trading dragons. Who wants to take Hookfang?"
"Hmm, let's see. Should I trade my perfect dragon for the angry Monstrous Nightmare?" Tuffnut asked sarcastically.
"No deal, Snot." Raeda said.
It seemed that only one saddle was working perfectly for the rider and the dragon "This saddle's actually pretty good." Astrid commented as she flew around Stormfly with the saddle on.
"Try the horn!" Gobber told her.
"Oh no." Hicca said, covering her ears just in case.
Astrid blows into the horn, which increased in size. The bigger it is, the more amplified the sound is. This startles Stormfly and she sends spines flying, pinning Snotlout to the wall, much to the Jorgenson boys' dismay.
"Really? Again?" Snotlout complained.
Seeing how this was turning out, Hiccup turned to his mentor "So, anyway, I-I think we're really gonna need to make a few-"
"Changes!" Gobber said, interrupting him with a smile. "I'm way ahead of you. I've got so many ideas! It's gettin' crowded up here." He chuckled pointing to his head. Hiccup and Hicca exchange a look of worry.
After the session finished and everyone left, Hiccup and Hicca stayed back to clean up the arena, which is now full of burn marks.
"My Odin! And I thought it looked messy when we were killing dragons!"Stoick said as he entered the Arena, looking around in surprise.
"It does look like a battle just took place." Hicca admitted, looking around.
"More like Gobber came by." Hiccup said.
"Well, you know Gobber. He has good intentions, but it usually goes better in his head. So what are you two going to do?" Stoick asked his children.
"We're going to clean up his messes and re-do his work." Hiccup said and his sister nodded in agreement.
Stoick sighed "Look; Gobber's like family-"
"We are aware of that dad. Which is why we are not saying anything about it." Hicca said.
"That's where you are wrong. You two need to say something about this. It's not fair to Gobber or either of you if you don't." Stoick explained.
"You have a point." Hicca admitted.
Hiccup started getting frustrated "Why do we have to say something to him?! You didn't! You just passed him off to us!"
"That's what the chief does; he delegates." Stoick said. "Look, I gave you two this Academy because it's the best thing for Berk. And you two are proving that. Now you guys have to do what's best for the Academy. And I'm sorry, but what's best is very rarely what's easy."
"Yeah, we noticed." Hicca said, dreading what she and her brother will have to tell their mentor.
As Stoick walked his children out of the Academy, he noticed Snotlout still hanging on the wall by the Nadder spikes. He seemed to be asleep "What about him?"
"Leave him. He's going for a record." Hiccup informed him.
"He figured, if it's going to happen to him a lot then he might as well try." Hicca said.
"Enough said." Stoick said, deciding to let his nephew be.
"Well, here we go. It's now or never." Hicca said as she Midnight, Toothless and Hiccup stood outside the forge. "Hey, you never know. Maybe we don't have to fire him. Maybe Gobber decided to look at our plans and make the saddles better." A small explosion was then heard inside the forge.
"You were saying?" Hicca asked.
"Or not." Hiccup sighed
The Haddock twins then went inside the forge and saw Gobber raising a crossbow at them.
"Gobber? Don't shoot!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"Don't be crazy, Hiccup. I wouldn't shoot either you or your sister unless I absolutely had to." Gobber replied.
That didn't make either of the twins feel better "Good to know, but why don't you just give the crossbow a rest." Hicca said.
Gobber put the crossbow down and turned to the twins "You know, about the weapons, maybe the catapults were a bit much for some of the dragons." He said. "So I'm changing the design. I've gotten rid of the two big ones..."
"Gobber, that's great!" Hiccup said. Maybe they didn't have to say no to their mentor after all.
"...And replaced them with six little ones!"
Or maybe they do...
"Not great." Hicca deadpanned.
Hiccup decided to tell the news "Yeah, um, Gobber about that... uh, Hicca and I think it might be time for you to take a little break."
"In case you hadn't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die." Gobber informed him.
"That can't be true." Hicca muttered.
Hiccup tried again "Maybe 'break' is the wrong word. What I mean is, we are not sure things are working out."
"Well, get back to me when you're sure." Gobber said, oblivious to what Hiccup was trying to.
Hicca decided to help out her brother. "Gobber, what Hiccup means is that we think you should retire from the saddle project."
Gobber turned to Hiccup and Hicca, finally realizing what they were trying to say "Are you two gettin' rid of me? Now I see why you had me put down the crossbow." He said sadly.
"It's just from working on the saddles. It's not really working out. But that doesn't mean you can't do anything else." Hiccup said quickly.
"Yeah, I'm sure there's something out there for you." Hicca added.
"I don't need either of your pity. I've lost and arm and a leg. I think I'll survive losing a job." Gobber said, walking off.
"We really sorry, Gobber." Hiccup called out.
"We really are." Hicca said as Gobber moved out of their sight.
Hiccup turned to his sister "Well, that was awful."
"I know. I feel so bad." Hicca said, feeling guilty.
"I don't know what could be worse than that." They then heard a roar and saw Hookfang on a rampage "Probably whatever that is."
"You just had to say that, didn't you bro?" Hicca said sighing.
Snotlout then came running over to them "I can... not believe that... I am saying this" He said panting "... but Hiccup...Hicca... HELP ME!"
In the village, Hookfang continued his rampage, alarming all the villagers nearby.
"Clear away from the area. The dragon is on a rampage!" Stoick ordered.
"I don't know what happened! One minute, everything was okay, then I started rubbing his face, which he loves, then he went crazy!" Snotlout explained "My dragon hates me!"
"They do say a pet starts to take on the characteristics of its owner. That could explain what's going on here." Fishlegs guessed.
"Hey!" Snotlout retaliated by punching Fishlegs in the stomach.
"Yeah, case in point." Fishlegs wheezed, putting his hands on his stomach.
"Maybe there's something wrong with him, medically." Hiccup said, turning to his sister, the aspiring healer. "Think you can figure it out?"
"Uh sure, if I can avoid getting burnt." Hicca replied, watching as Hookfang fire at everything in sight. An idea then came to her. "When was the last time he ate?" She asked Snotlout.
"Not for days." Snotlout answered.
"That must be it! Hookfang must be starving!" Hicca guessed.
Hiccup calmly walked towards Hookfang taking a raw fish with him "Are you hungry, boy?" He gave the fish to Hookfang. The dragon ate it, but immediately spit it out, causing it to land on Stoicks' beard "Oh, sorry, Dad." Hiccup apologised.
"Or maybe not." Hicca said.
Sighing, Stoick took the fish out of his beard and tossed it to Toothless, who ate it up "We've got to bring this dragon under control."
"Don't worry. Hicca and I can do this." Hiccup said, reassuring his dad.
"Easy Hookfang. It's just us. Your friends, Hicca and Hiccup." Hicca said, trying to soothe the dragon.
"That's right. Everything is gonna be okay." Hiccup said, patting Hookfang on the side of his mouth. Suddenly, Hookfang roared and blasted fire at the twins.
"Hiccup, Hicca, run!" Astrid screamed.
"Get out of there quick!" Raeda yelled.
"Got it!"
"Way ahead of you!"
Toothless and Midnight then attacked Hookfang, both were angry at him for attacking their humans.
"Toothless! Stop!"
"Midnight! Stand down!"
Hiccup and Hicca both rushed to their dragons to calm them down.
"I've seen enough, Hiccup and Hicca. I'm sorry. We tried it your way." Stoick said. He then left, knowing what needed to be done.
"Gobber! We need you." Stoick said as he came to the blacksmiths' house.
"No, you don't. Nobody needs me. Nobody needs any of us. Not even you, Bertha." Gobber said sadly, looking at his catapult.
"Are you crying?" Stoick asked, noticing tears in his friends' eyes.
"Course not. I had just chopped some onions." Gobber answered, rubbing his eyes.
"There are no onions."
"Not anymore, thanks to this." Gobber said, holding his sword.
"There's a dragon in the plaza that's out of control." Stoick informed him.
"Then why don't you call Hiccup or Hicca? Or both?"
"No Gobber, we need you." The chief said firmly
Back at the plaza the teens tried to come up with a plan to stop Hookfang.
"We have got to get Hookfang under control fast! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!" Hiccup urged. He then noticed Snotlout pointing at something "Snotlout, you have a suggestion?"
"I wish I did." Snotlout whispered, paling.
"Stand back, kids. I'm here to put an end to this." Gobber announced, armed with weapons.
"He's gonna kill my dragon." Snotlout said, getting upset.
"You don't know that." Hiccup said, trying to reassure his cousin.
"Uh, yeah, we do know that." Tuffnut said.
"He's got sharp, pointy weapons. I'm pretty sure you don't use a sword to butter toast." Ruffnut said.
"Well, I mean, we would definitely, but you don't." Tuffnut added.
"Guys, not helping at all!" Raeda hissed at the Thorston twins.
"Dad, you can't do this! Hookfang is Snotlouts' dragon. There has to be another way!" Hiccup said, trying to stop them.
"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways." Gobber said grimly.
"But he's a good dragon." Hiccup pleaded
"He's a good dragon!" Snotlout repeated in a whisper.
"There's probably just something wrong with him." Hiccup said.
"There's definitely something wrong with him!" Snotlout said, on the verge of tears.
"There has to be a reason Hookfang is acting like this. We should have him checked out before we do anything drastic." Hicca begged.
"Hicca's right, we have to figure out what's wrong with him. We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day." Hiccup added.
"A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for us. That's not a risk I am willing to take." Stoick said before turning to his friend "Gobber."
Gobber nodded and attacked Hookfang. The dragon tried to retaliate by blasting fire at him but no fire came out.
"Ha! You're all out of fire!" Gobber said. He used this opportunity to shoot bolas, which succeeded in capturing the dragon. Gobber then made his way for the kill.
The Haddock twins looked at each other and nodded.
"I can't let you do this." Hiccup said, as he moved to stop Gobber.
"Neither can I." Hicca said, joining her brother. They both latched themselves onto Gobbers' arm
"Let go kids. This needs to be done." Gobber said, struggling.
Struggling against his bonds, Hookfang roared in their faces, causing the three of them to stop and stare at his mouth
"Whoa." Hicca said, surprised by what she saw.
"Do you see what I see?" Gobber asked
"Yeah." Hiccup replied. He and his sister then let go of Gobbers' arm.
The blacksmith looked at the Monstrous Nightmare with a determined look on his face "Time to put this beast out of its misery." Gobber said before charging at the dragon.
"Hiccup! Hicca! You guys are going to let him do this?" Astrid asked, shocked by their actions. Hiccup just held out his hand in response
"Don't worry Astrid. It's going to be fine." Hicca said.
All of them watched as Gobber jumped on Hookfangs' snout. After a bit of struggle, Hookfang threw the blacksmith to the ground. Though it seemed that the dragon was finally calm.
"Ah! You didn't kill him!" Snotlout said in relief.
"For a toothache? What kind of monster do you think I am?" Gobber asked, holding up the tooth.
Snotlout happily ran to his dragon, who lifted him up with his snout. However, seeing the others looking at him, Snotlout regained his composure. "Stop it. Stop it." He got off Hookfangs' snout "Ugh, I don't know where that came from. Do you think you can train that out of him or...?" He asked, earning eye rolls from everyone.
"Yeah, sure. We'll work on that." Hicca said sarcastically.
"Thank you, Gobber. All this trouble for a bad tooth? Who would have thought of that? I wouldn't have." Hiccup said.
"Me neither." Hicca admitted.
"That's because neither of you are Gobber! I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know." Gobber replied "Well, better go keep all this safe." He referred to his weapons and started to walk away, when Hicca and Hiccup got an idea.
"Gobber! Wait!" Hiccup called out.
"Who says you have to put them away." Hicca asked.
Gobber turned back at them smiling, already knowing what they have in store for him. The next day, he started his newest job; a dragon dentist.
When the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it. And Gobber is one of those good men. In fact, 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 throouugghh!