CHAPTER 4

Hiccup was in his room watching the sun set through his window. Astrid had left, not too long ago to settle Toothless in at her house. It had been decided that, until Hiccup was ready, he would stay with Stormfly. Hiccup felt a pang of guilt when he watched Toothless hang his head and follow Astrid and Stormfly. She and Stoick had told Hiccup everything that had happened, including all the times that the Night Fury had saved him. If they were right, Toothless was the most loyal friend anyone could ask for. He had risked his life for Hiccup over and over and had never failed him.

But however much he tried; Hiccup couldn't make sense of it. The vision of countless dragons raiding Berk night after night, nor the image of the Night Fury pinning him to the ground after Hiccup had released him, constantly popped into his mind. They were animals, it was kill or be killed around them.

That's not true at all, he thought, that Night Fury could have torn you limb from limb, but he didn't. That was true, it would have been a perfect opportunity for a bloodthirsty beast. They had been in a secluded part of the forest alone and Hiccup wasn't nearly strong enough to fight him despite his many years of lifting weapons in Gobber's shop. He would be no match for the dragon. Yet, he had simply roared at Hiccup and left.

Maybe they were all right. A whole town can't be this wrong in trusting dragons, but years of his father's words told Hiccup that dragons were evil. True, none had attacked him directly, nor anyone else in the village but Hiccup still couldn't bring himself to do it.

Conflicting thoughts raced through his mind as the sun rose higher and, eventually, Hiccup heard the sounds of his father getting up. Stoick was about to leave but paused when he saw his son on the stairs.

"How are you son?" He asked.

"'M good" Hiccup said, dragging his feet as he begun getting breakfast.

"What are you planning on doing today?" Stoick asked, his body half inside, half outside.

"I'm not sure; maybe I'll go help Gobber in the shop." Hiccup smiled at the thought. Gobber was always good when Hiccup didn't want to be pestered too much.

"Sounds good, he'd like that, we'll I'm off, I'll see you later tonight."

"Ok, bye dad."

With that, Stoick shut the door behind him and Hiccup was left eating his breakfast he finished he made his way over to the old Viking's shop. During his walk, Hiccup began looking around. It was only then that he realized just how much Berk had changed. No longer was the carnage of recent raids scattered over the streets. There were large sheds, which clearly housed large dragons. Every now and then a Nadder or Gronckle flew overhead. Hiccup even saw a group of Terrors investigating a small barrel of fish.

Soon, he reached the shop and heard Gobber singing away as he pounded at red-hot iron.

"Well I've got my axe and I've got my mace..." he sung merrily as Hiccup walked in "...and I love my wife with the ugly face, I'm a Viking through and through!"

"Hey Gobber," Hiccup said as he entered the shop.

"Hiccup! What're you doin' here?" He spun around to see Hiccup, "Shouldn't you be at the Academy?"

"Yeah I guess," he said as he put on an apron, "but I'm still struggling with the whole 'dragons-are-our-friends' thing though."

"Oh okay, still a bit nervous around them are you?" Hiccup nodded and Gobber turned back to his work, "Well, it'll get better."

"Hopefully."

For most of the morning, Hiccup fell into an old rhythm, hammering away and keeping the fire temperature up. But by around midday, Astrid came into the shop looking for Hiccup.

"Hi," she said happily as she entered.

"Hey Astrid, Hi Astrid, Hey," Hiccup stammered, almost dropping down his hammer.

There was a pause

"Can I...uh...Can I help you?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"Can't I just come and see how you're doing?" she asked.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess," he had no idea of what to say to her so he simply waited for her to start.

"I've got my axe and I've got my mace,"

Gobber had begun singing again which startled the pair.

"I'm a Viking through and THROUGH!"

Both teens stood awkwardly near the door. After a few seconds, she asked, "So, how are you coping?"

"Well, it's all still a bit surreal" he said, "but I'm slowly getting used to the idea of dragons being around I guess."

"So you've started remembering?" She brightened at the thought.

"No, no!" He said quickly, causing her face to fall slightly as he did, "No I'm just, you know...coming to terms with it."

"So you're still scared of them?" She asked.

"I'm not scared, just a bit nervous." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. It was true, he wasn't scared of them exactly, they just made him really jumpy.

A thought seemed to have struck Astrid.

"So you'd be okay around them?" She asked.

"Well, I didn't say that."

"Alright then, if you can't handle real dragons, what if we just taught you everything we know about them?" She suggested, "You and Fishlegs have added heaps to the Book of Dragons since the Academy started, maybe it'd help you get over them a bit."

"I guess." Hiccup wasn't entirely convinced, but it would be interesting at least to learn about dragons. Just as long as they weren't there in the flesh, "So wait, I've added to it too?"

"Of course! You're the one who trains most of them and finds out their abilities and Fishlegs helps make a note of it." She said it as if it were common knowledge, which it probably was to everyone else, "What we know of Scauldrons, Typhoomerangs, Whispering Deaths and especially Night Furies, we owe to you, and because of you, Ruffnut was able to train a Scauldron all by herself."

"Wait, Ruffnut actually listened? To me? And it didn't end in disaster?" He had never heard of either of the twins ever listening to a word anyone said, not even his father, their chief. So why would they listen to Hiccup?

"Yeah, but trust me, it doesn't happen often. We were all just as surprised as you are now. It was a weird day for all of us." She said with a laugh.

A loud roar made Hiccup jump and Astrid turn around as a large, red Monstrous Nightmare landed in the street.

"Hey Astrid!" Snotlout yelled jumping down from the dragon, "Fishlegs said he needed to talk to you, something about the Academy."

"Okay," she turned back to Hiccup, "Well, I'm needed, I'll meet you tomorrow to start those dragon lessons, alright?" She began running off to her house; Hiccup guessed that's where she'd left her dragon.

"Dragon lessons?" Snotlout pulled a face, "Since when does The Dragon Conqueror need dragon lessons?"

"Since he forgot all about them." Hiccup wasn't in the mood for Snotlout's teasing and so he turned and headed back to his work.

Unfortunately, Snotlout had different ideas and followed him inside to continue.

"Wait, so Astrid was right? You have no clue about what happened after you met Toothless." A smirk was creeping onto his face as he said this.

"Apart from the fact that I hit a Night Fury?" Hiccup said, keeping his back to Snotlout, "Yes, that is correct. Now I have a bit of work to do, so if you'd be so kind as to let me finish."

"OK, but I just want to make sure you understand one thing. You and Astrid might've been all chummy, but she's mine! I mean look at me!" Hiccup glanced around as he flexed his arms, "who wouldn't want a piece of the Snot-man?"

Hiccup had a very simple answer but he thought it better to simply agree.

"I don't know, Snotlout," he said dryly.

Snotlout, misunderstanding his tone said confidently, "Yeah, that's what I thought." He then turned and strode outside. Hiccup heard the dragon roar and beat its wings as it took off.

It was typical of Snotlout to pick a Monstrous Nightmare, one of the most dangerous, and, admittedly, obnoxious, dragons, to ride. But then, look at what Hiccup had chosen. He was riding and had befriended a Night Fury. No one had even seen, let alone touched or ridden one but apparently, Hiccup was best friends with one and had called it Toothless.

"What kind of a name is Toothless?" he said to himself.

"Huh?" Gobber said from around the corner.

"Uh, nothing! Just talking to myself" Hiccup called.

"Okay then," and the banging resumed.

After a moment, curiosity got the better of him.

"Hey Gobber" Hiccup asked. The banging stopped and Gobber came around the corner, "do you know why I called my dragon Toothless? I mean he's got plenty of teeth."

"You know, Hiccup, I'm not completely sure why, but I think it might have somethin' to do with the fact that they're retractable," he said as he polished off the piece of metal he had been working on that day, "I should know, I have to check 'em."

"You have to check his teeth?" Hiccup asked, "Why?"

"So he doesn't get cavities o' course!" He finished cleaning the metal and put it down.

"Yeah, but, why you?" Hiccup continued.

"Because that's what I do. Since we stopped killing dragons, I've stopped making so many weapons and so I spend most of my time fixing dragon teeth." He picked up the piece of metal again and Hiccup realized it was an iron tooth, the size of a dragon's. "Just like this one. Isn't she a beauty? Oh, here comes the client."

Hiccup turned just in time to see an orange Zippleback land in front of Gobber's shop. Automatically Hiccup reached for a weapon but stopped as Gobber ran out and began fixing the tooth in place.

Hiccup watched in amazement as the dragon kept its mouth open for Gobber to attach the tooth. Each trusted the other to not hurt them. It really was incredible, but also slightly terrifying and nerve wracking. Hiccup half expected something to go wrong, knowing how heavy-handed Gobber could be. He could hurt him and the dragon would probably chomp down hard, taking yet another limb from the seasoned fighter.

As the day wore on, Hiccup stayed inside the shop as more dragons came for their teeth to be fixed. By the end, Hiccup had stopped watching, as it was too stressful to watch his long-time mentor put his hand and head inside a dragon's mouth, time after time.

Eventually it came time for him to leave and, after shouting goodbye, Hiccup left for his house where his father would already be waiting for him.

Stepping inside, Hiccup saw his father was sitting stoking the fire, just as he had been on the night Hiccup was told he'd be starting dragon training the next day and he suddenly felt slightly dizzy.

"Are you alright son?" Stoick asked, standing up.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine, just a bit tired." Hiccup said slightly dazed and sat down across the fire.

Stoick sat again and returned to stoking the fire.

"So how was your day?" he asked, looking from the fire to Hiccup.

"Well, it was interesting," Hiccup said, "Turns out Gobber doesn't make dragon-killing weapons as much anymore. Now he fixes their teeth. I found that out the hard way."

"No, he doesn't," Stoick said with a chuckle, "I was wondering when you'd find that out."

"What? You didn't think to warn me?"

"No, I thought about it, but I decided against it." He put the poker down and continued, "Dragons are a part of life here on Berk now, and you might as well get used to it."

"I suppose you're right," Hiccup conceded, "but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy."

"I don't expect it to be," he put a hand on his shoulder, "Thor knows how long it took me to get used to the idea of them, but eventually, even I came around and got my own dragon."

"You have a dragon?" Hiccup was surprised, he hadn't seen one near the house except for Toothless and his dad had never mentioned one.

"Not anymore, no, I had to release him." He seemed to miss him, "But I used to have a Thunderdrum. I called him Thornado." He added proudly.

"What's a Thunderdrum?" Hiccup asked.

"It's a dragon that creates a sonic blast instead of fire. You told me legend said that he got his power from Thor himself." Stoick said. Stretching, he stood up, "Well, it's late, I'm going to be very busy tomorrow and I'm sure you've got plenty of work to do too, it's probably best we get some sleep."

Hiccup agreed wholeheartedly. He was exhausted. The physical work, combined with the mental stress of the dragons, had completely worn him out. Both he and Stoick left for their rooms.

That night, Hiccup thought of the next day where Astrid was going to be teaching him about dragons. With all the surprises of the last few days, Astrid noticing him was by far the best. Just as long as she wasn't being nice out of pity, which Hiccup didn't think was in her nature, he could endure Snotlout's taunting more easily.

Hiccup then drifted off to sleep, pointlessly hoping that tomorrow would be far less confusing.

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