Hiccup's New Life (Film Version)-I
Thank you all for the reviews you sent out regarding my school and the student who lost his life, especially you Transformers 0. This chapter has something in it that I hope you guys like.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon, the script or the story that this "Watch the Cinematic fanfic" came from.
Chapter 6: A New Tail from a Forbidden Friendship
Hiccup, Alvis, Valka, and Alta sat at a table, surrounded by dragons, before a small yet rich banquet fit for a family of twice their size. A king-size turkey, loaves of bread, salad, potatoes grounded and whole, chicken, pies, fruit, water, wine, cakes, and so on. The two teens happy indulged themselves to every delicacy that caught their eye, while Valka took it upon herself to feed little Alvis. Toothless was having such a fill of fish nearby, Hiccup was starting to worry if eating his fill would make flying an issue for the ravenous Night Fury.
A few of Alta's fellow teens sat at the neighboring table, a wide assortment of types just like the teens of Berk. One boy in particular was staring at Hiccup with anger and disgust. He had hair as red as fire, short and messy, arms only slightly larger than Hiccup's, a pumped chest with a necklace made of dragon fangs hanging upon it, a sleeveless tunic tucked into his gray pants held up by a belt, boar fur wristbands, and leather boots like Alta's.
"Ruoy, why're ye givin' tha' lad the evil eye like that?" The chief, Hairke asked.
"Do I even need to say it, Chief? That guy is sympathizing with our eternal enemies! You saw how comfortable he was around those beasts, and he's even holding a baby near them! He's just as murderous as the dragons! We have to do something about them!" Ruoy growled. Hairke tried to dissuade the temperamental adolescent.
"Listen Ruoy, that sorcerer, Mask or MOD, he's made it so that the dragons can't attack us, just as we cannot attack them. I don't think we have anything to fear, especially not from the boy."
Ruoy wouldn't listen. "Chief, they're dragons! You honestly think those Hel-spawned beasts won't try to tear us to pieces? I say forget the weapons and let's kill the demons before they even get the chance! You just need a few people to hold them down, while another twists its neck! It's a bit old fashioned, but it works!" Hairke then grabbed the boy by the shoulders and bore deep into his eyes.
"Be calm, Ruoy; don't do anythin' stupid. We can't know what to expect from either the boy or the dragons, but for the sake of the tribe, we must not act on impulse, lest we give him a reason to kill us all." Ruoy ground his teeth and gave a non-committal nod. Hairke nodded his head in satisfaction, before getting up to get something else to eat. Ruoy just kept his arms folded, teeth gnashed, and eyes glaring deadly onto Hiccup.
"Don't think for a second that you're in the clear yet, traitor. Alta's a lost cause, but you can't put the wool over my eyes."
EXT. COVE – EARLY MAGIC HOUR
CLOSE ON
A fish...thrown into the cove. It hits the ground and slides. A moment later, Hiccup emerges with a shield.
Gobber sighed with relief. He had hoped that on the chance Hiccup were to make the utterly foolish decision to fight the Night Fury, he'd at least fight him prepared. Snotlout on the other hand was happy for a different reason.
"That Night Fury's gonna totally toast Hiccup."
"Hey, we already gave him a few scars, maybe he'll get burned." Tuffnut laughed.
"That's what I said, genius."
"Oh, thanks Snot. Finally someone gets me."
"He was being sarcastic, Tuff." Fishlegs clarified.
"Aw, give me a break. I'm only used to stupid... smarty… weird double talk from Useless." Tuffnut defended.
"But if this happened after we fought the Nadder…doesn't that mean Hiccup survived?"
The twins looked at each other before looking at Snotlout.
"Zero for three, and Useless is still un-toasted." Tuffnut said in awe.
"How do you survive a Night Fury three times? It's like the fishbone's death-proof." Ruffnut complimented.
He peeks through a gap in the rock, looking around cautiously and finding nothing. Hiccup tries to press forward, but his shield is stuck in the gap. He slides under, tries to retrieve his shield, to no avail.
Stoick grabbed the bridge of his nose. "Again and again, you continue to disappoint. I should have announced Snotlout as heir years ago, or even Astrid, as much as folks would complain about it. Feh, even the twins would have made better chiefs than you..."
Sighing, he enters the cove. A BEAT, then Hiccup hears a SNORT from behind him.
NIGHT FURY
"You're a fool for sure, but you've got spunk, as far as skin sacks go. Come looking for a rematch?"
Hiccup GASPS and turns to see the Night Fury, crouched on a rock like a stealthy panther. It descends, approaching him...ready to pounce.
"Here it comes." Gobber warned. The teens, the village, and the chief watched anxiously, most just eagerly anticipating a slaughter.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Don't assume my loss of flight is as much a handicap as you'd like it to be. I'm still more than a match for the likes of you."
Hiccup swallows his fear and offers the fish.
"Step 1: Make a peace offering to ease tension and establish communication. Food goes a long way towards earning a dragon's trust." Hiccup advised to Alta. The girl had a pencil and paper handy, and was eagerly jotting down every bit of dragon-bonding advice she could get.
The majority of the Hooligans were surprised once more at how the Night Fury had yet to make mincemeat of their disgraced heir. It might have just been waiting for him to drop his guard, they all assumed almost too rapidly.
The dragon approaches, calmly, cautiously, opening its jaw.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"I don't know what you're playing at, but…ah…that fish does look good… "
Doing so reveals the dagger at his waist. The dragon sees it and hisses.
Gobber gripped the right armrest with all the brutal strength his intact arm possessed. He still cared about the boy, despite what anyone else thought of him and his newfound misguided allegiance. He just watched with sweat dripping down, hoping his thoughts alone could safeguard Hiccup from whatever bloody fate the dragon would deliver.
The teens were another story, offering only the bare minimum of interest towards the twig with the devil's luck. Hiccup had survived long enough against a plethora of other dragons that couldn't match up to Night Furies, yet still could have killed him in a single breath. All that piqued their curiosity now was what kind of pitiful trick he used this time.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Ha! Pretty clever, boy, but I wasn't hatched yesterday."
Hiccup reaches for it, eliciting a growl. The Night Fury gets into a defensive stance.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Do not tempt me, stupid boy…"
He pauses, carefully lifts it by the handle, and drops it.
"What's he doing!?" Almost everyone from the combined tribes present shouted.
"If step 1 fails, proceed to step 2. Remove all forms of weaponry to erase any hostile intent."
Gobber tried to look at it from Hiccup's perspective. When faced with a dragon that can kill you, one thing you don't want to do is anger it. Stoick had gripped his armrests so hard that they nearly snapped.
The Night Fury gestures its head to the lake.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Not good enough."
Hiccup picks up his dagger with his foot and tosses it into the lake.
"OH, FOR-! YOU DAMN IDIOT BOY! WHAT FOOL GOES AND TOSSES THEIR WEAPON IN FRONT OF A DRAGON?!" Stoick jumped from his seat and screamed at the screen.
The dragon calms.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Better. Now then, you were offering me an afternoon snack?"
Hiccup offers the fish once more. The dragon approaches with caution and opens its jaw.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Oh dragon, I'm so hungry."
Hiccup notices that it's missing teeth.
HICCUP
"Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had..."
NIGHT FURY
"Bottoms up!"
A set of razor sharp teeth emerge from its gums to grab the fish.
Everyone in both rooms, save for Valka, Hiccup, Toothless and Alvis jumped.
"So that's how he got his name." Alta realized.
The dragon snatches and gnashes it up, swallowing it.
HICCUP
"...teeth."
The teeth retract again. The Night Fury presses closer with an expectant look.
NIGHT FURY
"So good…You've got more, don't you?"
Hiccup retreats nervously.
HICCUP
"Uh, no-no."
NIGHT FURY
"Don't you lie to me!"
HICCUP
"No, I-I don't have any more."
The Fury backs Hiccup against a rock, placing himself the same position as before. The dragon closes in over him, staring blankly.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"So then, you shared your only food with me? You're quite the oddball…Well, I guess it would only be fair."
A tense moment passes...then The Night Fury regurgitates a chunk of fish onto Hiccup's lap. Hiccup is unable to hide his disgust; while The Night Fury rests on its haunches. They exchange stares.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Wait," Valka began, readying for a laugh. "You didn't."
"I did, mom…I did."
"Did wha-?" Alta asked in confusion before stopping dead. "Oh, DON'T TELL ME!"
"Step 3, entirely optional but…recommended." Hiccup let out a defeated sigh. "Accept what the dragon returns to you gratefully." Alta looks at him, a mix between amusement, disbelief, and utter disgust crossing her face. Valka on the other hand had fallen over in laughter, cradling her aging sides while holding onto her staff to stay upright.
The dragon waits expectantly. Hiccup, unsure what the dragon wants him to do, sighs and looks down. The dragon gestures to the fish and then to him.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"It's called sharing! Eat it!"
Hiccup picks up the dragon's gaze and looks from the fish to The Night Fury as if to ask, "Are you serious?" Hiccup sighs and gnaws off a bite of the slimy fish.
The teenagers from Berk wanted to turn their faces away, but they couldn't. For crying out loud, they'd thought he'd at least had the common sense not to eat what a dragon puked onto his lap! This was going to earn them a lot of mileage, at the very least.
"Wow, Hiccup's even tougher than you, Snot. I've never seen anyone eat something that came out of a dragon. That takes, like, guts of iron."
"Shut up, Tuff. I don't need to eat something a dragon gives me to prove I'm tough. In fact, the first dragon I see once I'm out of training: I'll rip its wings off and… slather it with its own blood before devouring it whole." Snotlout bragged.
The Night Fury cocks its head in surprise. Hiccup tries to get the dragon to take the fish back, but it's not satisfied. It makes a swallowing gesture.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Nice try, skin sack. Down it."
Hiccup makes a complaining grunt and tries to down the bite he took. It nearly comes back up and out, but eventually he downs it. He shudders at the feeling.
"Man, I am so sorry for you." Alta said, face turned near-green.
"Before anyone says anything, I brushed places in my mouth I never knew existed afterwards." Hiccup said, ready to quell any accusations.
"How long ago was this, anyway?" Alta asked while handing Alvis to Hiccup. Alvis immediately grabbed a lock of hair and pulled as hard as he could.
"OW! I'd say, maybe 2-3 weeks." Alvis just giggled as he continued to pull Hiccup's hair.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"It's good, right?"
Hiccup forces a smile. The Night Fury narrows its eyes, focused on Hiccup's expression. It stretched its lips to perform the same expression.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"So…like this?"
The Hooligans had to rub their eyes to insure that what they saw wasn't a dream. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself was actually trying to smile, looking… cuddly, of all things. But, dragons were evil, Hiccup should be dead, all kinds of nasty, graphic things should have been happening. And yet the boy was still alive, face to face with the very creature that should never be encountered. Perhaps there really is more to dragons than just raid and kill.
Amazed, Hiccup sits up and tries to touch him. The Night Fury HISSES…
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Too close, skin sack."
…and flaps off to a crash on the other side of the cove.
"Well, Rome wasn't built in a day." Hiccup sighed. Toothless nudged him. "Then again, who can blame you for being skeptical?"
It BLASTS the mossy ground to a red-hot temperature...and curls up on it like a giant dog. It starts to sleep but his ear plates heighten at the sound of a bird taking flight. It turns to see it fly off…and finds Hiccup seated. Hiccup silently waves his hand in greeting. Its ear plates flatten.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"You don't give up. Fine, stay, just don't touch my tail. You've done enough damage."
The Night Fury tolerates his persistent presence and covers its face with its tail...until Hiccup tries to touch it. The dragon SNAPS at him.
Gobber laughed at that. "When it comes to the lad and the dragon, I can't tell which is more headstrong!"
"The Night Fury is acting…kind like an aloof big brother to Hiccup." Fishlegs said, no longer worried if the dragon will attack Hiccup.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"I said DON'T touch!"
Hiccup takes the hint and leaves, while the Night Fury stalks off elsewhere.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Word of advice – keep your claws to yourself."
"Looking back on it, you really did act like an older sibling looking for privacy." Hiccup said, scratching Toothless under the chin.
"Well, excuse me for not enjoying being stuck in a rocky cove with the human responsible for me being permanently grounded."Toothless said, lazily defending himself. Hiccup laughed. He had come to terms with the fact that he downed Toothless for good. The fact he got him up in the air again really helped his conscience.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. COVE - LATER
It's MAGIC HOUR. The Night Fury wakes, hanging upside down from a tree. It spots something.
Some of the children in both rooms were pointing at Toothless, clapping their hands and saying "Bat!"
NIGHT FURY
"That's one stubborn skin sack. What's he up to over there?"
ON HICCUP, sketching in the sand. CLOSE ON a sketch of The Night Fury. Hiccup draws with a stick, minding his own business. The dragon appears behind him, watching carefully.
"Hiccup may not be a dragon killer, but he's definitely talented." Fishlegs said, a bit loudly.
"Drawings don't kill dragons, Troutface."
"Neither does bragging, in case you haven't noticed." Astrid retorted smugly, causing Snotlout to go red as the Twins laughed.
"Shut up, you loons!" Snotlout yelled.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"So…what'cha doing?"
Aware of its presence, Hiccup continues, trying not to scare it off.
"That looks…like me? You're making another me? Hold on a flap, I wanna try doing that!"
"As bad as I want to feel for the jerks in the next room…I can't. Why would they decide to undermine someone so talented? It's not like humans exist solely to kill dragons." Alta said, amazed at Hiccup's drawing abilities.
"They certainly seem to think otherwise…"
The dragon walks off. A moment later, it reappears with an entire sapling, drawing lines in the sand. It rushes here and there, making haphazard lines in every direction.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Now, let's see, you've have that brown fur on your head, that nose, those eyes."
"What is it doing?" Some of the Hooligans murmured.
"Is it trying to draw?"
"Could this dragon really be intelligent?"
Stoick slammed his fist on the armrest nearly breaking it and the bits of hushed discussion that had started had immediately ceased.
It looks back at Hiccup, before tilting the stick, adding in an extra detail.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"You also have some spots on your face."
He rushes back and forth and even WHACKS Hiccup with the sapling as he finishes. Finally, The Night Fury drops the tree and inspects its work. It seems pleased.
NIGHT FURY (CONT'D)
"Yep, that should do it."
Hiccup stands and takes in the sprawling scribble, amazed by it.
"So you were trying to draw me! I thought you were just scribbling random lines all over!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"Finally, you understand! Was it really that hard to guess?" Toothless warbled in victory.
He accidentally steps onto one of the lines, eliciting an instant growl from The Night Fury.
NIGHT FURY
"Step off of my ground image, skin sack."
He removes his foot, calming the dragon.
NIGHT FURY
"Thank you. I worked hard on that, you know."
Curious, he steps on it again. The Night Fury growls again.
NIGHT FURY
"Stop it…"
He removes his foot again.
NIGHT FURY
"Good."
He steps on it a third time.
NIGHT FURY
"You're asking for it!"
He removes his foot a third time.
NIGHT FURY
"What're you even doing?"
Hiccup steps over the line, relaxing the dragon.
NIGHT FURY
"I really don't get you..."
Realizing how sensitive it is, Hiccup smiles at the dragon before stepping carefully between each line, turning round and round until he unwittingly bumps into The Night Fury. It snorts.
NIGHT FURY
"Hey there, skin sack. Nice moves."
"You're a good dancer, a good artist, and you actually use your head. You're no Viking, but you're definitely a Hel of a boy, Hiccup." Alta said, ruffling his hair.
"I wouldn't exactly call that dancing, and this isn't exactly dignifying, what you're doing here. But thanks Alta. I think you're a pretty cool girl, too." Hiccup laughed.
"Thanks!" She giggled.
Once again, they're face to face. Hiccup slowly extends his hand. The Night Fury hesitates.
NIGHT FURY
"This isn't right. We're supposed to be enemies. How can I know this isn't some dirty human trick?"
Hiccup turns his head away and closes his eyes. The dragon's eyes widen in shock.
"Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him." Snotlout started chanting.
"Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him." The Twins joined in.
"Kill him! Kill him! KILL him! KILL HIM!" Soon all of Berk, with the exceptions of Stoick, Gobber, Astrid and Fishlegs, began reciting.
NIGHT FURY
"You're… really trusting me to make the first move here...Well, I'd be a newt of a dragon if I literally bit the hand that fed me. So…fine."
The Night Fury bridges the gap and presses its muzzle against Hiccup's hand. Hiccup braces for an attack, and then opens his eyes to see that the dragon bridged the gap on its own. The dragon slowly opens its eyes, before it snorts.
NIGHT FURY
"Just don't get any funny ideas."
It vanishes, leaving Hiccup astounded.
The people in Draak immediately went into a frenzy.
"He bonded…with a dragon!"
"He actually befriended a dragon!"
"But aren't they ruthless, thieving monsters?"
"I guess… maybe dragons and humans ain't all that different; some are good, and some are evil."
One little girl from Draak became curious. She got out of her seat and started to walk down towards the dragons. Her parents tried to get her to come back but Hiccup turned around and saw the girl pleading with her parents.
"Let's make us a new believer, bud." Hiccup said to Toothless, who eagerly displayed a gummy smile. Valka looked on eagerly. Hiccup and Toothless walked up the aisle to the girl whose parents were arguing with her to keep her away from the dragons. As soon as Toothless was in sight, they tensed back with the girl in his father's arms.
"No, no, it's okay, it's okay. I promise he won't bite unless someone threatens him. He's friendly, aren't you, bud?" Toothless gave them the roundest eyes he ever could while looking up at them. The girl had slipped away from her father and walked up to the docile looking dragon. She looked to Hiccup for permission and he held out his hand. She placed it in his and together they made their way to the regal black dragon bended down low for her. Obviously, she was a bit hesitant, but soon the girl moved her hand out in front of Toothless' snout and turned her head away, unsure of what to expect. Hiccup smiled, while Valka had come up beside him to watch. Gradually, Toothless met her hand with his snout. The girl flinched before opening her eyes and seeing her hand still attached to her arm.
"Wow…I'm actually touching a dragon!" She started moving her arms around and jumping up and down as if she had gotten her favorite present on Snoggletog. "Everyone, this dragon is nice! It's okay to pet him!" In a flash, a multitude of children immediately ran up to Toothless, some clamoring onto and shoving his head down while others climbed onto his back. It was all the dragon could do to stay sane when they began to bounce and tug softly at some of his appendages.
"Hiccup, I agreed to help you with one, but this is a practical mob!" Toothless looked pleadingly back at Hiccup.
"Just keep going, bud. You're doing great!" Hiccup replied, laughing.
Valka looked on with no small amount of pride. From the example of one daring child to the flocking of many, all newly believing in the kindness dragons were capable of. She had to admit, since she spent the majority of her years among dragons, one way or the other, she had grown quite distrustful of humans. However, when it came to the young, from birthing her own child to nursing hundreds of dragon hatchlings at the Sanctuary, the maternal instinct within her went into full effect. She knew that the children were not at fault for hating dragons as much as their predecessors did. Watching on, she felt the dream of a world where her beloved dragons were free of prejudice were that much closer thanks to the unexpectedly powerful bond between this dragon and her son.
"Well, I've changed more than one person."
"Soon, you'll change the minds of many more; every wave begins with a single ripple. But you can't share Toothless with everyone." Valka laughed as the previously worried Night Fury was now lying on his back, kicking at the air like a dog.
"I guess one of them found his sweet spot."
Over in the next room, the Hooligans were just as baffled, but not as much in a good way. What they had just seen was causing heavy cracks to form in the stone-solid beliefs they all shared. And from the depths came a surge of mass confusion and outrage.
"None of this makes any sense, dragons aren't trustworthy!"
"Yet the boy walked away from it with all limbs intact."
"Dad, the Night Fury didn't kill Hiccup. How come?"
"That, and all after the boy went looking for the beast!"
"Why didn't it kill him? Why didn't that Night Fury kill Hiccup?"
Stoick himself was at a loss for words, his head bowed low in contemplation for once. The Night Fury Hiccup had brought down didn't even try to kill him, despite all the chances it had. If anything, the dragon seemed…
No. He could not think that way, he had to remember that dragons only raid and they kill, no matter what he saw on that screen. He would never forgive those demons for what one of them took from him all those years ago. He certainly wasn't going to forgive that reckless fishbone for disgracing the memory of the woman he loved.
The teens wanted to know as well, especially Fishlegs, who was planning to make serious edits to the Book of Dragons on the Night Fury page.
"Either Hiccup's not intimidating enough for the Night Fury to feel threatened…or maybe there's something we missed about dragons, guys."
"You're the one who read the book 7 times, Guppylegs. Why don't you enlighten us?"
"Well, for starters, you're too far gone to be enlightened, Snotlout." Fishlegs retorted.
"Okay, Fishlegs, seriously, what's with you? First, you stick your neck out for Useless, and now you're totally trashing Snotlout. What's the deal?" Ruffnut asked.
"Nothing you or Berk needs to worry about, Ruffnut." Fishlegs sighed. Inside, he wished that he and Hiccup could return to being the good friends that they once were.
EXT. VILLAGE - NIGHT
Gobber and the recruits are at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, seated and toasting campfire food around a roaring bonfire.
GOBBER
"And with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face. I was delicious."
Hiccup and Alta gagged. The boy had remembered the tale of Gobber's missing appendages. He told it to him once every other week, lest his apprentice lose respect for his mentor.
"He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."
FISHLEGS
"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something."
Valka's eyes widened a bit. She had always known that the alpha species, the Bewilderbeast could exert their own will over other dragons and command them. Even with his docile and benevolent nature as a ruler, though, the Ingerman boy's words gave her a reminder as to how terrifying that level of control over another's fate was.
SNOTLOUT
"I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face."
He postures to Astrid. She rolls her eyes.
"His inability to take a hint is becoming very painful right about now." Alta sighed. Hiccup nodded.
"How can you chop a leg with your face?" One of the children sitting at Hiccup's feet asked. After Toothless' display of gentleness, many of the children from Draak decided to sit near the pair. One of them even asked him if he could teach them how to train their own dragons, which soon led to all the children excitedly begging him. Alta had pledged her help in any way she could. Hiccup patted the child on the head.
"Well, first off, don't listen to that guy. He's just being Snotlout."
"Being Snotlout?"
"Yes, and you never, ever want to be Snotlout."
"Why?"
"Where do I start? He likes to pick on people for no reason, he thinks he's cool when he isn't, he doesn't listen to people when they tell him to shut it… Overall, he's a jerk who thinks everyone should like him because he's got muscles."
"Why does that sound so familiar?" Alta wondered.
GOBBER (with a mouthful)
"Un-unh. No. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."
ON HICCUP hiding his horrified look from the others. Gobber stands and stretches.
"That's when I realized that sooner or later, someone else might find Toothless and alert the chief. So I needed to get him up in the air somehow. I didn't want my only friend at the time to fall victim to my tribe's ignorance." Hiccup explained.
"How did you do it? I mean, restoring a dragon's flight would mean restoring his tail to normal and no offense, but…you're not a god." The idea of Hiccup being a god actually made the boy laugh.
"None taken. But I decided to put my best muscle to work."
GOBBER (CONT'D)
"Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly, but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?"
Astrid had looked up, realizing something important for the first time. Hiccup had finished first in dragon training, whereas she was the runner-up. Now that Hiccup had left Berk, the honor of killing the Monstrous Nightmare went to her! She would've felt happier, though, if she had had the chance to best Hiccup in the ring and expose his trickery.
The teens look at each other in excitement.
TUFFNUT (CONFIDENTLY)
"It's gonna be me. It's my destiny. See?"
ASTRID'S POV-As she looks around, everyone but Hiccup is still there.
FISHLEGS (SHOCKED)
"Your mom let you get a tattoo?"
"TUFFNUT THORSTON!"
"I think that is 'no'." Fishlegs snickered, evil pleasure inundating his laughter.
TUFFNUT
"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."
"You want a birthmark, eh?! I'll give you a birthmark! I'll give you such a birthmark, no one will be able to tell when or how you die!" The other teens watched with sadistic glee as the matriarch of the Thorston family marched over to Tuffnut, who tried to hide behind his sister, to no avail. She grabbed him by the ear, and set off to the bathroom, torch in hand. For the next several minutes, the only sounds coming from the bathrooms were screams and running water mixed with the hissing of skin.
Astrid watches him as he leaves the bonfire.
"Astrid, please tell me you followed him." Stoick sighed. Astrid lowered her head, ashamed that she didn't keep track of him.
"Sorry, chief. Hiccup usually acts weird so him running off didn't exactly inspire suspicion."
RUFFNUT
"Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."
TUFFNUT
"Yes it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now."
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. BLACKSMITH STALL - MOMENTS LATER
Hiccup enters a small room at the back of the stall. It's covered in drawings of weaponry and scale models. He lights a candle and lays his sketchbook out on the desk, opening it to the drawing of The Night Fury. With a look of determination, Hiccup picks up a charcoal stick and re-draws the missing tail.
"Prepare yourselves; this is Hiccup at his absolute best." Gobber announced. Stoick turned to him in anger, rather than surprise.
"You're endorsing what this dragon-lover is doing?"
"The boy's a lethal smith, Stoick. Even I'm amazed at what he can chucker in the forge when 'e's not 'avin' accidents."
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. BLACKSMITH STALL - LATER
CLOSE ON
A creaking leather bellows. The stone forge glows with every pump. Hiccup hammers an iron rod and blows on it. He dunks in the water barrel to cool before laying it out on his workbench. Tongs pull intricate iron pieces from the coals. They're dropped onto the anvil, twisted, lightly hammered, and dunked in a barrel. Hiccup carries the pieces to his workbench and lays it out in place on a one-to-one schematic. It's a mechanical fin. He OPENS and CLOSES it, revealing the sketch.
"Wow." Alta whispered awestruck. She hadn't seen much of Hiccup to fully know, but he gave off a friendly impression and the fact that he had gone as far as to break tradition to help a dragon already signified that he was more or less a rebel. It made him, in her opinion, kinda...cool.
"And this is Mark I." Hiccup opened.
"See, what'd I tell ya? He's an excellent smith." Gobber said, proud of his apprentice's ingenuity.
EXT. HIDDEN COVE - DAWN
Hiccup arrives, winded, straining under the weight of a full basket. He clicks the scale he found (like a jar top). The Night Fury approaches, sniffing him.
HICCUP
"Hey, Toothless. I brought breakfast. I hope, I hope you're hungry."
TOOTHLESS
"Like you wouldn't know. If you're gonna feed me, you should know one fish ain't gonna cut it."
Hiccup drops the basket and kicks it over. Fish spill out.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Okay, that's disgusting."
"He gave it our fish. The brat set a Night Fury free, befriended it, and gave it a whole basket of our hard-earned food. You know, the blood eagle hasn't been used in quite some time, Stoick. Perhaps when we have that traitor in our grasp, we can…dig up the old tradition." Spitelout offered, foulness spreading through his head.
"Aye, the blood eagle. It's a fitting punishment for a dragon-loving traitor."
TOOTHLESS (EXCITED)
"Wow, skin sack! This is a way better haul than I usually bring in!"
Toothless approaches, settling in to devour the feast.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Uh...we've got some salmon...some nice Icelandic cod...and a whole smoked eel."
Toothless hesitates and narrows his eyes, sensing something wrong.
TOOTHLESS
"An eel?! Please tell me you didn't say 'eel!'"
He backs off. When Hiccup holds up the eel, Toothless HISSES and spreads his wings in alarm, while his eyes turn to slits.
TOOTHLESS
"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"No, no, no! It's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either."
That one thought reverberated through the minds of everyone in the Berk room. Night Furies hate eels. Perhaps all dragons did – it was certainly something they planned to use to their advantage.
After Hiccup throws the eel away, Toothless focuses on the remainder. With the dragon distracted, Hiccup unwraps his prosthetic fin and opens it like a fan.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with the good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business."
TOOTHLESS
"Skin sack, I have to admit. I underestimated you. I mean, I didn't think you'd come up with this much of a selection! This one tastes real filling."
Hiccup cautiously approaches the injured tail, but every time he gets near it, Toothless sweeps it away like a cat.
TOOTHLESS
"Dragon, these are good. Is there more?"
Toothless stuck his head in basket, similar to a curious cat.
All of the children laughed of Toothless' antics. Toothless whacked the back of Hiccup's head.
"What? There's only so much food I can smuggle for you. Or do you just not like putting on a show for the kids?"
"Oh, shut up…"
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"It's okay."
Hiccup straddles the tail. Toothless' head juts up, causing the basket to fall of his head. He slows his chewing to a halt.
TOOTHLESS
"What are you doing back there, skin sack? I told you not to touch my…wait a minute…!"
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Okay...okay…"
TOOTHLESS
"My tail…it feels whole again! Can I finally get out of here? Sweet open sky, here I come!"
The dragon tenses, slowly spreading his wings. Hiccup straps the prosthetic fin in place. He cinches the straps.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (PLEASED)
"There. Not too bad. It works."
Toothless BOLTS! He snaps his massive wings and takes to the air, carrying a screaming Hiccup with him.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Woah! No! No! No!"
"HE'S ACTUALLY RIDING A NIGHT FURY!" Everyone in both rooms, save for the obvious, screamed at the same time.
TOOTHLESS
"C'mon Toothless…or whatever the skin sack called me, time to kiss this rock goodbye!"
Hiccup struggles to hold on to the tail. As the ground speeds away, Toothless immediately TIPS into an uncontrolled bank and dive.
TOOTHLESS
"No, no, no! Danger, danger! Crash landing!"
Hiccup sees the folded fin rattling uselessly in opposition to its flared counterpart. Flap as he may, Toothless can't correct his trajectory. Hiccup swallows his fear and crawls toward the folded prosthetic. He reaches it and YANKS it open. The flared, fan-like appendage catches the air, stabilizing the twisting tail.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (excited, terrified)
"Oh, my – I-It's working!"
TOOTHLESS
"I'm doing it! I'm up in the air again! I can finally get out of here!"
Hiccup smiled fondly, remembering how well the very first tailfin he constructed worked. Toothless' smile was just as fond. After losing flight for a few days, it was exhilarating to be up in the air again.
Toothless arcs just short of the water and climbs...high into the air.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Yes! Yes, I did it."
Toothless glances back at Hiccup, busily holding the tail open while trying to hold on.
TOOTHLESS
"Thanks for the help, skin sack, but I think I can handle it from here."
Whoomp! Hiccup is suddenly thrown from the tail in the intense force of a turn.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"
He bounces across the water's surface and takes a dive.
TOOTHLESS
"Now then, let's get back to…wait. Oh no."
Without Hiccup to operate the tail, Toothless does the same, plunging in a massive cannonball. Hiccup resurfaces, roughed up, but beaming. Toothless appears seconds later.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
"Yeah!"
Valka finished feeding Alvis, who subsequently went off to play hide and seek with Alta and Toothless among the dragons. Valka turned to Hiccup who kept a watchful gaze onto the dragons.
"Hiccup, I want to ask you something."
"Sure, mom."
"Is it okay if I have you meet Cloudjumper? Just so you can…clear the air with him?"
"Uh…okay…sure, why not?" Hiccup asked with no small amount of discomfort. She turned to the crowd of dragons.
"Cloudjumper, can you hear me?"
"I hear you, Valka. Is there something you need?"
"I want you to talk with my son? I know he forgives me, loves me, and is glad that I'm alive, but I think he might harbor some animosity towards you for keeping me away from him for so long."
"Valka, he must understand that I would've been risking both our deaths if I had tried to bring you back."
"Yes, but I just want to be sure."
"…Very well, I'm coming."
"Thank you." Valka turned to Hiccup. "He's on his way." Soon after, the large owl faced dragon walked up to Hiccup. With a heavy sigh, the boy walked up to him wearing a face and casting a gaze that both matched his ex-father's name.
"Okay…Cloudjumper, I'm not going to lie to you. 15 years, I went without a mother. 15 long, lonely, painful years all endured never knowing what we could've had together. Every time I did something wrong, I'd either get yelled at by the villagers, mistreated by my cousin and his stooges, or simply ignored by my father, who didn't want anything to do with me. I would only have Gobber. He was the only one who believed in me, listened to me, and trusted me when my own father wouldn't. 15 years I had to go without a sense of family in my life. I don't know how I did it, but I did."
Hiccup started, memories of a lifetime of pain going through his mind. Valka looked back and forth between Hiccup and her companion dragon, feeling no small amount of guilt. She had only seen segments of what 15 years of prejudice did to her child. If she had seen everything, perhaps not even the White Bewilderbeast could stop her from delivering justice onto Berk. Cloudjumper lowered his head in shame. He didn't know what losing a mother could do to a hatchling, let alone a human hatchling. He could only imagine that life wasn't easy for the boy, to say the least. Toothless found his way back to Hiccup and pushed his head underneath the boy's arm. Hiccup sighed, deciding to get to his point.
"That being said…I have to say…thank you."
Cloudjumper's eyes widened. He was responsible for the boy's poor treatment, his worthless sire practically disavowing him, and his village thinking that his mother died, and yet he was thanking him?
"You kept my mom safe for all these years. If not for you, she probably would've gone along with the rest of Berk. In time, I think she would've lost her faith in the idea that dragons aren't evil by nature. She would have taken up arms against your kind, because you unintentionally brought my ex-dad and me to the brink of death. By being away from Berk, she could get away from all that; she learned that dragons are basely free creatures: they have families and feelings of who they want to protect. When I put it into that context, dragons act just as humans do. They'll do everything and anything to protect their own…even kill. You keeping my mother away from Berk has reinforced and strengthened her belief in the truth that dragons don't always go for the kill, so…thanks for keeping Mom from becoming another murderer."
With this, Hiccup put out his hand and waited. Cloudjumper wasn't completely sure of this so he turned to Valka, who smiled proudly at her son and urged Cloudjumper on. Cloudjumper turned to Toothless.
"It's fine, Cloudjumper. Just don't start licking him – that's my job." Toothless said.
With that, Cloudjumper slowly pressed his head against Hiccup's hand. Cloudjumper felt a sudden rush as Hiccup's feelings, thoughts, and memories started to flow from Hiccup to Cloudjumper. All 15 years of Hiccup's life, the good times (if there were any) and bad: the scornful gazes of the villagers and the neglect from his sire. It was amazing that Hiccup had even survived, if he could have been frank. Cloudjumper looked at Hiccup, astonished from how far the boy had come, before turning to the dragon at his side.
"Young one, your rider…how was he able to endure so much?"
"Honestly…? I don't know. He's quite fragile, so much so I'm impressed he was even able to take the beatings. He only ever showed his scars to me."
"I saw them…your human is much stronger than those others believe he is."
"Indeed."
"I don't understand why he still loves those…murderers enough to stay!"
"We were going to leave, actually, then that guy with something green covering his face intercepted us!"
"His sire simply allowed it to happen! What parent would willingly allow their own child to be abused to that extent?"
"That worthless excuse of a chief is NOT his sire! He never acted like a sire to him, and I refuse to accept him as his sire now!"
"If you two leave, you're always welcome at the Sanctuary with me, the hatchling's dam and the White King."
"Who's the White King?"
"He's a Giant Ice-Spitter and our alpha. The dam, I, as well as thousands of others of our species live under his care and his command."
Toothless had to consider Cloudjumper's offer very carefully, for he had already experienced life under the control of a dominant species. The queen dragon forced him and those who lived in the nest with him to kill Vikings, even innocent women and children who hadn't stained their hands with a single drop of dragon's blood. Therefore, Cloudjumper had to understand Toothless' hesitance to join another nest.
Unbeknownst to them, Hiccup and Valka understood every bit of their conversation. Valka turned to Hiccup in alarm. Hiccup got up and tried to dissuade her before she went off.
"Mom, I know…what Toothless said; I'd be lying if I said it wasn't true, but it's seriously nothing to worry about!"
"Hiccup, take off your tunic."
"I'd prefer you not possibly going into the other room and clobbering everybody!"
"Take it off, Hiccup."
"Do you know what would happen if they were to see you riding a dragon?"
"They think I'm dead anyway. Now take if off."
"N-no way!"
"Boop."
The whole time Hiccup was trying to keep his mother from becoming extremely angry, Toothless snuck up behind Hiccup and in one, fluid motion, de-shirted the young dragon rider.
"...Thanks a lot, bud." Hiccup sighed dreadfully.
"My pleasure!" Toothless replied cheekily.
The sight of Hiccup's scarred and bruised flesh appalled Valka and Alta. At that point, she knew that she had made a grave error by leaving Hiccup on Berk. Rage had begun to boil within her and she immediately got on Cloudjumper and left to find Mask. Hiccup sighed and relaxed against Toothless, Alta following soon after.
"I am the sole hate of the gods."
"Hey, don't say that. If you were really hated by the gods, wouldn't Thor himself have struck you?"
"Well..." A sharp pain suddenly flashed through Hiccup's head; a phantom pain.
"What's wrong?" Alta said, concerned.
"Nothing...nothing now." Hiccup wheezed. Alta looked down at Alvis, who had the most peaceful smile a baby could have.
"You know, Hiccup, it's almost uncanny how similar we are...I mean, I'm not the most popular girl in my village either. To tell you the truth, I still wonder why I haven't run away from home yet."
"Well, it's always good to have a kindred spirit. Do you refuse to kill dragons, too?"
"Yeah. I guess either your mother's just kind to a fault or maybe she saw something in me. I mean, she does trust me with Alvis, even though he's your son." Alta's smile grew sad. "My mother..." Hiccup immediately understood. After all, he lost his mother when he was a babe and despite his expression, he still felt a myriad of emotions from meeting his mother, despite the fact that joy was a good part of it.
"I'm sorry, Alta. I'm here in shock that I have my mother again, and..."
"It's fine, Hiccup. I've come to terms with it. You didn't know your mother before today, so you couldn't have known. At least I got the chance to spend some time with my mother before she..."
"… Still, Alta. You're a pretty pleasant person. Here I thought my mother and I were going to have to turn the world upside down by ourselves."
"Nope, you, me, Ms. Haddock, Alvis, and Toothless will change this world together, along with any other crazy souls up for adventure." Alta laughed, drawing in Hiccup and Toothless as well. "Your mom's probably about ready to give those Hooligans hell."
"Well, you know what they say about mama bears."
"…No, what?"
"Harm her cub, and she'll rip you to shreds."
Back with the Hooligans…
Stoick had torn into another stick of mutton. After what he had seen, he was beginning to think that perhaps naming Snotlout the next heir was actually a worse idea than...him. Stoick had to stop thinking about Hiccup, but how could he? His ex-son had made him so proud in dragon training, and it turned out he had been telling the truth about shooting down a Night Fury, only to find out in the end it was all a lie. Why would he be so foolish as to set the beast free? Why ask all the pointless questions he did when they were in training? If he had kept moving instead, he probably wouldn't have looked every bit the failure that he was, especially in front of Astrid.
Speaking of Astrid, it seemed that her efforts to be as far away from Snotlout ended only in vain as always. After seeing just how well she fought against the Nadder from a different angle, he suddenly couldn't get enough of her, whereas she couldn't stand any more of him.
"C'mon Astrid, you've gotta show me some love."
"I've got no love to show for a moron who missed a perfectly clear shot. And how was the sun in your eyes? It was cloudy, like almost every other day!"
Snotlout started growing desperate. "When I was talking about the sun, I meant you. You literally shine so brightly that I can't concentrate."
"Oh, so you're blaming me for nearly getting killed?"
"What? No-I mean- well, I-"
Astrid groaned loudly and went to sit by her parents, the only available safe haven from Snotlout's disgusting flirtations. Snotlout slumped and returned to his father's side, while Stoick watched the whole exchange with pity. It seemed both his and Spitelout's offspring were pathetic when it came to girls, one couldn't talk to any, and the other disgusted many, if not all.
Mask then appeared before Stoick in a quick flash. "Someone's here to see you, Chief."
"Everyone needs to see me. Get out of my sight."
"Well, this particular person…may have a lot to say to about…well…you know."
"Who is it?"
"I'm trying to be as subtle as I possibly can. I'm pretty sure what this person will do to you, but I'm not entirely sure what you might do in kind."
"Out with it, man…demon…sorcerer…whatever the blasted Hel you are!"
"Okay. You can come in, now!" And as quickly as he gave the signal, he vanished.
The theater door opened and in walked a four-winged dragon with an owlish face. Stoick recognized the dragon immediately and his blood began boiling. He broke off into a mad sprint and unconsciously reached to his side for his hammer before remembering it wasn't there. Still he charged ahead, swinging his fists before he felt his legs give way. Then, an unseen force pinned him to the ground. Stoick immediately got to his feet, before locking eyes with the vigilante standing atop the dragon, armed with a hand-carved staff and a menacing looking mask that gave a feeling of pure fear.
"You dare deny me my vengeance, you traitor to humanity?!"
"No, I deny you the chance to hang my dragon's head from your wall." The voice sounded too high to be male, but not high enough to be female, instead falling somewhere in the middle. Though the tone of the figure didn't faze Stoick in the least. The voice behind the mask boomed. The vigilante dropped down in front of Stoick.
"You dare defend these beasts?! Do you not see that all they know is stealing and slaughtering?!"
"Vikings have been doing much the same, long before any dragon has."
Stoick couldn't disagree. Raids between Vikings weren't exactly rare, but he didn't want to give up any ground just yet. "That's a lie! It was the dragons who started this war!"
"Is that the truth? Do you have any proof of this claim? Were you there three centuries past to see how this war began?"
Stoick ground his teeth. "If it wasn't for that damn sorcerer, you and that bloody devil would be dead this instant." Stoick felt a perverse feeling of satisfaction after seeing the masked person shake. Meanwhile, Gobber studied this conversation intently. From what he could tell, the last time Stoick argued with someone with animatedly, that person-wait.
"Oh, I'm sure. If it weren't that 'damn' sorcerer, you'd probably kill the poor boy in the next room as well!"
"Too right, you are. That whelp is just as much of a dragon-loving traitor as you."
"Why, because he set a dragon free?"
"Exactly! Dragons are mindless, heartless devils that we kill on sight! They took everything away from me, including my wife!"
"Again, a claim with no proof; have your bellows always carried such little evidential weight? Without proper knowledge, you can't say with absolute certainty that she's dead. Maybe she's alive, but chose not to return-"
Stoick's response was a right fist to the vigilante's mask, evoking the cheers of the now-grown audience. Stoick tried for a left fist, but the vigilante blocked it with the staff. The four-winged dragon hissed in alarm and started towards the enraged Viking chief, but it stopped after the vigilante gave the staff a wave.
"WHO ARE YOU TO TALK TO ME ABOUT MY WIFE?! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT HER THAT MAKES YOU MORE WISE OF HER THAN ME?!" The vigilante fought back bravely, but against the sheer force of Stoick, offering one rage-fueled fist after another, the staff couldn't hold out much longer. In no time at all, Stoick had the vigilante pinned against the wall, his meaty hand tightly gripped against the leather armor. The crowd cheered once more.
"Get 'im, Chief!"
"Take 'im down, Stoick!"
"If she wasn't dead, why hasn't she returned?!"
"You wouldn't understand, none of you would!" The vigilante replied.
"I wouldn't understand what?" Stoick growled dangerously. "That she hates her fellow man so much that she would rather be among those demons?!"
"Like I said, you wouldn't-"
"I wouldn't understand that the woman I loved held the vows I took for her on the day we wed in such low regard?! Me, her husband, who would sacrifice any material thing he owned for her?!"
"You just don't-"
"Let me tell you what I do understand, DEVIL." He hissed, nearly sounding as monstrous as his hated enemies did. "I know that she would be just as disappointed, as sickened, to see what has become of her child!" Snotlout decided at that point that his uncle won this fight, so fulfilling his role as the village troll, he decided to rub salt in the wound.
"Wait, chief! Isn't Hiccup your son, too? Won't he inherit Berk, should you retire or leave us?" Snotlout asked, mocking the innocent confusion of a child. Stoick knew all too well what Snotlout was asking him to do, and he was more than happy to do so.
"That pathetic, worthless, disgusting fishbone is NOT my son! You are the heir to Berk, Snotlout and should we see that useless traitor again, I will gladly give you my axe when he is BLOOD-EAGLED!"
The vigilante cut off Stoick's spirit-breaking speech with the harshest strike to the face he ever did receive. At that moment right there, everyone knew their chief struck a nerve when he had mentioned their former heir, because in one, swift move, the vigilante had broken Stoick's grip and flung him into the table he was sitting, causing it to crash. However, unfortunately, the fables of Stoick's strength proved not overrated, because the damage done from the right hook had caused the leather on the mask to tear. So when Stoick looked into the face of the vigilante…he was looking at his wife, Valka Valhallarama.
"I DARE YOU, STOICK 'THE VAST', I DARE YOU TO CALL MY SON USELESS AGAIN!"
Stoick gasped. "Valka?"
Valka said nothing as she removed herself from him. She kept her infuriated gaze upon the man she once called her husband.
"Why didn't I return to Berk? Why didn't I return to you? Why didn't I return to my son? I thought he'd do better with you to raise him. I thought you could train him to be strong, like you. I can't say now who I am more ashamed and appalled of, myself for being so wrong…or you, for so easily discarding Hiccup from your family."
Stoick wasn't listening. He was trying to come to terms with the fact that his wife was alive and praying it was no illusion. The woman he loved, carried off to die, now standing before him once again.
"Neglecting him as you did, caring nothing for how he suffered. His own cousin-" Her voice rose as she turned her gaze onto Snotlout, who yelped and hid behind his father. "His own cousin was beating him black and blue, and you brushed it off! 'Vikings wear dragon blood', indeed. How could you let your nephew treat your-forgive me, my son, this way!" Stoick actually decided to listen that time.
"Val, I never meant-"
Another harsh slap met his face and sent him to the floor. He turned to Valka, staring in fear for the first time in a while.
"You never…meant…what? YOU NEVER MEANT WHAT?! You never meant to ostracize my child, make him feel unwanted simply because he wasn't your perfect Viking? A fine thing it was, for you to go and completely destroy the trust Hiccup had in you as children do in their parents, denying him the comfort he longed for. Dare I ask if his safety was even a concern of yours at all?! Tell me the truth, Stoick the Vast: before this whole 'dragon training' began, between Hiccup's birth and then, did you actually take pride in the fact that he was your son?"
Stoick opened his mouth to say something…but ultimately couldn't.
"I thought as much. Since you no longer regard Hiccup as your son, I am no longer your wife, Stoick Haddock." She roared as everyone flinched at how commanding Valka sounded in contrast to 15 years ago. "Berk is no longer my home, nor is it Hiccup's and I'll be damned to Hel if I let any of you try to take away the happiness he's finally found now." She grabbed her mask.
"I will tell you this, Stoick the Vast. I honestly believe Cloudjumper, not devil, not demon, Cloudjumper carrying me off was the best thing he could have ever done for Hiccup and me. My one regret among many is not holding my dear son, who I am PROUD to call mine, in my arms when he took me away, leaving you with nothing to ruin." With that, she leapt onto Cloudjumper. "Before I leave you to wallow like the sorry shell of a Viking you no doubt are by now, I've one more thing…Gobber?"
"Hey there, Valka. It's wonderful to see you again." Gobber smiled weakly. Valka returned that smile.
"It's good to see you too. Thank you…for being there for him when you could."
"Ah,'t's no problem. Could ya' give the lad me regards?"
Valka gave a tired smile. She liked Gobber. He had proven to be quite the stand-in father for the real thing. "I'll do so with pleasure. Goodbye, my dear friend." Valka said, before Cloudjumper flew back through the theater door. Gobber looked around; everyone in the village looked really, well…dumb. That's the only to describe how they looked, they looked really dumb.
"I'll swim…and sail…on savage seas…"
Gobber looked down. Stoick had tried to get back to his feet, but kept falling over.
"With…ne'er a fear…of…drowning…"
The villagers looked on in fear. They had never seen their chief act like this since Valka was…oh.
"And…gladly ride…the…waves of life..."
Snotlout felt bad for his uncle. His aunt Valka just showed up and quite literally, smacked the taste out of his mouth. She even said that she was happier with Hiccup than with her husband.
"If you…will marry…me..."
Gobber had to stop Stoick before he hurt himself further.
"No…no scorching…son…nor freezing…cold will…stop me….on my…journey..."
Gobber tried to stand him up, but didn't expect to see how heartbroken Stoick truly was.
"If you will…promise… me your heart…And…Love…"
Tears. Actual tears, not sweat, not dust, tears. Stoick 'the Vast' Haddock, Chief of the Hooligan Tribe was crying. His wife was alive and he went and attacked her before berating their child right in front of her. On top of that, he even named Snotlout heir to Berk and sentenced Hiccup to execution by Blood Eagle. He wanted to justify himself against her harsh words, but for the first time he was made to look at it from her point of view.
He had no right to be called a father to Hiccup, after all the inexcusable ways he had allowed him to suffer. Everyone just silently returned to the theater, leaving the chief to mourn. Only Gobber remained.
"Hiccup…Valka…I'm so sorry…Please…please come back to me…please…take me back." Stoick sobbed, useless as his pleas were.
Useless, just like what he had called Hiccup moments ago.
Back in the dragon room…
Valka had returned from severing her own ties with the village. She had made her way to the front of the row looking for Hiccup, Toothless, Alvis, and Alta so they could discuss how to start changing minds about dragons. She was already saving thousands of dragons as her job; imagine what she could do with her son by her side. However, when she got to the front row, the four were nowhere to be seen.
"Well, that's strange. Where'd they go?"
She went up and down the rows, maneuvering herself around dragons with the occasional "Sorry, excuse me." She navigated through every row until she came at the back row. She couldn't find a single trace of her son, her grandson, her prospective daughter-in-law, and-wait, prospective daughter in law; they just met today, why would that thought even cross her mind? Then again, she and Hiccup hit it off real well. She took a real liking to the girl. In fact, if Alta said that she refused to kill dragons, she could see herself spoiling a second grandchild very soon.
Suddenly, she heard a small little coo. She looked down at her feet and saw little baby Alvis swaddled in blankets. Glad to find one of her missing four, she started ticking the baby boy, evoking a giggle out of him.
"At least I found you, you little cutie pie. Now let's find out what your naughty father and uncle have been up to." Valka whispered with a hint of mischief in her tone. Alvis seemed to want to play along and moved a hand, swatting in some direction. Cloudjumper sniffed the air and smelled an overabundance of fish. He stalked in the direction Alvis was swatting and Valka followed behind. It didn't take long for the three to find a Night Fury, sitting on its haunches looking around with narrowed eyes. Its eyes locked to Valka and they widened in fright before turning around and sinking into a gap between his wings. Valka looked confused before walking to Toothless.
So…there we go. Sorry this was late. Getting back into the mix after break is hard.
I'm not sure if this will do. People wanted it, so…here it is. By the way, so far Hiccup and Valka are the only one who can understand Toothless in the film. I'll give all Vikings universal understanding when Hiccup leaves Berk in the film.
I really want to make you people HATE Stoick and the teens on the Berk side, save for Fishlegs. Let me how I'm doing. I think we'll get a couple chapters more where it's this easy to make chapters. We already have the script, I just need to format it, add some things in. When the deviation point comes, updates may not quite be as consistent.
Next time, we'll get See You Tomorrow for the Test Drive.
Later, Capital Punks.
Special Thanks to ChaosX97 for beta edits.