HEY! GUESS WHAT? I'M NOT DEAD! I KNOW THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED MUCH, IT'S JUST THAT, I HAD A BIT OF AUTHOR'S BLOCK. BUT I'M DONE! AS ALWAYS, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELCOMES BUT NO FLAMES, NOW I'M GOING TO DO SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER DONE IN THIS STORY… SHOUT-OUTS!

LIGHTFOOTK: thank you, I'm sorry I haven't updated much, I hope you like this chapter

THENIGHTFURY (GUEST): thanks, I was a Little upset about your first review but I can understand that you were in a bad mood. Everything is forgiven ;)

FLUFFYCAT102: Awww thanks! It's really satisfying when pleople say stuff like that

FUNTASTICME: hahahahaha! Yes I know what you mean. Thanks

WELL, THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY, IF I GET FIVE NEW REVIEWS IN THIS CHAPTER, I'LL DO MORE SHOUT-OUTS IN THE NEXT ONE.

BYE!

"seriously, what do you mean by we're worse than your dad and you" Hiccup asks, worried about his new friend

"nothing" she snapped, which surpried Hiccup

EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS - AFTERNOON

A Gronckle hovers above the ring, hunting victims as the teen

recruits scramble.

Astrid ducks behind a barrier to find Hiccup already there.

She forces her axe at his throat.

ASTRID

Stay out of my way! I'm winning

this thing.

HICCUP

Please, by all means.

Astrid realised he actually meant it and looked at Hiccup with a guilty look

"it's okay" he said. No it's not she thought. Just a few minutes ago she had held his hand, what kind of person was she? She had treated him like dirt for years and he had always treated her well. Suddenly, a wave of guilt passed through her.

"are you okay?" hiccup suddenly asked

"yeah, I'm fine"

She darts off, CLOSING FAST on the dragon. The crowd above cheers her on.

VIKING IN CROWD

You got it Astrid!

Hiccup stands and looks around. Amidst the crowd of

onlookers, Stoick watches keenly, beaming with pride.

He locks eyes with Hiccup, giving him a nod of encouragement.

Hiccup adjusts his new helmet and forces a half-hearted

smile.

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, the Gronckle spots him and makes a bee-line toward him.

BACK TO ASTRID

... as she catches her breath behind a barrier. She scowls,

focused, determined.

ASTRID

This time. This time for sure.

"no one wishes that more than me, believe me" Hiccup mutered

With a FIERCE BATTLE-CRY she LEAPS from cover, axe cocked to

throw.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

Aaaaaaaaaa...

And as she clears the barriers, she sees that Hiccup has

already laid the Gronckle out.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

...aaaaaaauGGGGGHHHHHHHH! No! No!

Hiccup shrugs, as unhappy with the situation as she is.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

NO! NO! SON OF HALFTROLL RAT EATING

MUNGE BUCKET!

A loud CLACK ring out. From the crowd above, Gothi, the

village elder, steps forward, tapping her staff. Everyone

lights up excitedly.

STOICK

Wait! Wait!

HICCUP

So, later.

Gobber snags Hiccup as he attempts to leave.

"why do you always grab me by the tunic? It hurts you know" Hiccup complains. Gobber simply chuckled

GOBBER

Not so fast.

HICCUP

I'm kinda late for-

ASTRID

(LIVID)

What? Late for what exactly?

"Astrid you get a crazy look in your eyes when you get mad you know that?" Hiccup says

"oh shut up"

Stoick holds out his hands to silence the jabbering crowd.

STOICK

Okay quiet down. The elder has

decided.

Thrilled, Gobber stands behind Hiccup and Astrid. He points

to Astrid as the crowd waits in silent anticipation. Gothi

shakes her head 'no.' The crowd 'Oooohs.'

Gobber then points to Hiccup. The elder nods an affirmative

'yes.' The crowd erupts in cheers.

Astrid turns a seething, deadly glare on Hiccup.

GOBBER

You've done it! You've done it,

Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!

STOICK

Ha, ha! That's my boy!

Hiccup is hoisted onto the recruits' shoulders and carried

out to the cheering spectators...

"oh no"

HICCUP

(MASKING PANIC)

Heh, heh. Oh yeah! Yes! I can't

wait. I am so...

EXT. HIDDEN COVE - DUSK

HICCUP

... leaving.

Hiccup jumps from his seat, startled when his dad shouts "WHAT? YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE?!"

"I-I…"

"why?" Hiccup takes a deep breath, trying not to show emotion in his voice. He fails

"Can you blame me? It's not like anyone would miss me and i'ts either that or killing a dragon"

"but you can't leave" Stoick says, his voice soft. The tone takes Hiccup by surprise

"let's keep watching, this has a happy ending" Yay says

We're leaving. Let's

pack up. Looks like you and me are

taking a little vacation, forever.

Toothless is nowhere in sight. Hiccup sets down his basket

and opens it up, his head clouded with troubles.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Oh..man...

SHINK! Hiccup looks up to the sound of...

ASTRID, sitting on the rock right in front of him, sharpening

her axe.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

(SHOCKED)

Aggh! What the-

Hiccup turned to Astrid "you almost gave me a heart attack"

She smiles and playfully smacks his arm

(RECOMPOSING)

What are you doing here?

She hops off the rock and back him down, spinning her axe

threateningly. Hiccup's eyes dart around nervously, searching

for Toothless.

ASTRID

I want to know what's going on. No

one just gets as good as you do.

Especially you. Start talking! Are

you training with someone?

HICCUP

Uh...training?

She grabs him by his odd-looking harness.

ASTRID

It better not involve... this.

HICCUP

I know this looks really bad, but

you see...this is, uh...

They hear a RUSTLE coming from the other side of the cove.

Astrid DROPS Hiccup to the ground and sets off to

investigate.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

(PANICKED)

You're right! You're right. I'm

through with the lies. I've been

making... outfits. So you got me.

It's time everyone knew. Drag me

back. Go ahead. Here we go.

"you sir are a terrible liar" Tuffnut says

"Outfits?" Ruffnut looks at Hiccup, unamused

"I don't work well underpressure" he says, his face growing hot

He puts her hand back on his harness, getting her to 'drag

him back.' Astrid BENDS Hiccups hand backwards, driving him

down.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

AAAAUUGGGHHH! Why would you do

that?!

ASTRID

That's for the lies.

Astrid pounces the hilt of her axe off of Hiccup's laid-out

body.

All the boys flinch, knowing that the hilt of the axe was way to closet to the sensitive part

ASTRID (CONT'D)

And THAT'S for everything else.

Hiccup's YELP is answered with A GROWL, coming from the other

side of the cove. Astrid looks up to see...

A NIGHT FURY. Toothless pounces toward them, snarling.

HICCUP

(FEEBLE)

Oh man.

She dives onto Hiccup.

ASTRID

Get down! Run! Run!

Astrid pulls her axe, ready to take on Toothless.

"oh boy. That's not going to end well for the lass" Gobber says

HICCUP

No!

Hiccup knocks Astrid's cocked axe to the ground, out of

reach, then stops Toothless short of crushing her.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

No. It's okay! It's okay...

Toothless pulls up short and lands hard, SPRAYING Astrid with

sand.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

(CALMING)

She's a friend.

Toothless snorts in disagreement. Astrid is frozen. Toothless

looks from her to Hiccup and back to her, confused.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

(TO ASTRID)

You just scared him.

"I scared him?"

ASTRID

I scared him!?

ASTRID (CONT'D)

(INTENSE WHISPER)

Who is him?

HICCUP.

Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid.

Astrid backs away, eyeing Hiccup and Toothless together with

pure disgust. She turns and RUNS for the village.

HICCUP

Tatada We're dead.

Satisfied with Astrid's departure, Toothless turns away.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

(TO TOOTHLESS)

Where do you think you're going?

Suddenly, Hiccup looks at Yay with a panicked face

"is this…"

"yep"

"are we…"

"yep"

"oh gods" Hiccup and Astrid start blushing and Yay laughs at their discomfort

"you both enjoyed it"

"enjoyed what?" Snoutlout asked

"NOTHING"

"whoa, settle down hiccstrid"

at this point Yay falls to the ground, laughing.

EXT. WOODS - MOMENTS LATER

ASTRID races through the trees. A large shadow overtakes her.

She is suddenly SNATCHED into the air. Astrid SCREAMS.

ASTRID

Oh great Odin's ghost, this is it!

"nah, Hiccup would never drop you" Yay tells the Astrid in the screen.

Hiccup and Toothless fly Astrid to the top of a towering

pine. It bows and creaks under their weight as Astrid dangles

a hundred feet in the air.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

Hiccup! Get me down from here!

HICCUP

You have to give me a chance to

explain.

ASTRID

I'm not listening to ANYTHING you

have to say!

HICCUP

Then I won't speak. Just let me

show you.

Hiccup extends a hand.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Please, Astrid.

She eyes him and the dragon, then the ground far, far below.

After a moment, she swats Hiccup's outstretched hand away and

reluctantly climbs over the pedal, lines, and harness. She

settles behind Hiccup, avoiding as much contact as possible.

ASTRID

Now get me down.

HICCUP

Toothless? Down. Gently.

"Judging by Toothless face, he's not going down "gently"" Tuffnut says

"you don't say" Astrid says "stupid dragon nearly gave me a heart attack" said dragon comes foward and licks Astrid's cheek

"Gah! That's discusting" she yells. Toothless laughs

Toothless leers mischievously. He spreads his wings slowly.

With a WHOP, they fill with the updraft. Toothless releases

the tree, tucks in his legs, and HOVERS in place.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

See? Nothing to be afraid of.

Toothless suddenly LAUNCHES straight upward. Astrid SCREAMS.

The acceleration is tremendous. Every downbeat bucks the

saddle, heaving them into the sky, doubling their speed like

a rocket. Astrid is thrown backward. She SCREAMS and hugs

Hiccup for dear life, squeezing the breath out of him.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Toothless! What is wrong with you?!

Bad dragon!

(mortified; to Astrid)

He's not usually like this. Oh

no...

Toothless ROLLS and PLUMMETS toward the coastline far below.

Astrid SCREAMS.

Toothless rockets over the ocean waves, deliberately dipping

them in the froth.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Toothless, what are you doing?!

We need her to like us!

Toothless rockets skyward and begins tumbling head over tail.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing you useless reptile.

Astrid clamps her hand over her eyes.

"awww is Astrid scared" Snoutlout asks in a baby voice. Before anyone can do anything, the boy is pinned to the floor, his arm twisted painfull

"what did you say?" the girl asks in a soft voice

"N-Nothing"

"good" she ets him go and returns to his seat

"you're scary, you know that right?" Hiccup tells Astrid

"thank you, I try my best"

ASTRID

Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just

get me off of this thing.

Astrid is defeated, her aggressive energy gone. Satisfied,

Toothless relents.

They level off and head up into the clouds. Astrid opens her

eyes again, and looks out over a world she'd never dreamed

of. She reaches out and touches clouds, pierces columns

ablaze in golden hues, and floats over a vast, alien sky-

scape. Her terror is replaced by wonder. She grins, despite

herself.

Toothless rises above a blanket of clouds...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. SKY - NIGHT

...and levels off under a starry sky. They emerge from a

blanket of clouds under the dancing Northern Lights,

shimmering in ribbons across the vast sky.

Below them, Berk's torches flicker in the inky darkness. The

new perspective is breathtaking.

Astrid tucks her arms into Hiccup's vest, burying her chin

into his shoulder. The moment is not lost on either of them.

Hiccup smiles nervously.

Toothless climbs past Berk's tallest peaks and heads out over

open water, leaving the village lights behind them.

Everyone stares at the screen, wondering how it's like to fly and Stoick thinks that maybe, dragons weren't so bad after all.

ASTRID

Alright I admit it. This is pretty

cool. It's... amazing.

(BEAT)

He's amazing.

Astrid carefully reaches down and pats Toothless' side.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

So what now?

Hiccup groans. It's a problem without an answer.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

Hiccup, your final exam is

tomorrow. You know you're going to

have to kill...

(WHISPERED)

... kill a dragon.

HICCUP

Don't remind me.

A strange, unearthly din approaches. Toothless' ear plates

suddenly stand on end. Panicked, he abruptly dives, dipping

into cloud cover.

"oh boy" Hiccup mutters

"I did not enjoy that part of the night" Astrid says

"me neither"

everyone looks at the pair. What where they talking about?

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Toothless! What's happening? What

is it?

Toothless BARKS at him. 'Quiet!'

Suddenly, out of the dense cloud, a Monstrous Nightmare

emerges.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Get down!

Hiccup and Astrid duck. The Nightmare calls out. A Zippleback

appears to the other side of Toothless, boxing him in.

ASTRID

What's going on?

HICCUP

I don't know.

(BEAT)

Toothless. You've got to get us out

of here, bud.

Toothless HISSES.

Other dragons, previously invisible in the thick clouds,

appear all around them. HUNDREDS of them, all carrying fish

and game in their talons.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

(WHISPERED)

It looks like they're hauling in

their kill.

The Zippleback eyes them ravenously.

ASTRID

What does that make us?

The dragons BANK and dive in formation, plummeting through

the thickening fog and weaving between towering, craggy sea

stacks.

They emerge at the base of a massive volcanic caldera,

glowing with rivulets of lava. The flock of dragons fall into

rank, funneling through a crack, and zipping through a

winding tunnel.

It gives way to a vast, steamy inner chamber, tiered with

pocky shelves. Dragons of all breeds lay about, nested in

hordes.

The arriving dragons fly in, dropping the fish and game into

a central pit, glowing red and shrouded in mist.

Hiccup is amazed.

"the dragon's nest" Stoick whispers. Everyone starts muttering.

HICCUP

What my dad wouldn't give to find

this.

Toothless peels away from the procession, landing on a small

shadowy shelf to keep a low-profile.

Hiccup and Astrid peek around, taking in the busy hive of

sorts. They watch as the food continues to be dropped into

the pit.

HICCUP (CONT'D)

It's satisfying to know that all of

our food has been dumped down a

hole.

ASTRID

They're not eating any of it.

Last to arrive is a dim-witted Gronckle. It hovers over the

pit and regurgitates his paltry contribution - a pathetic

little fish. As it falls into the steamy pit, a terrible ROAR

rings out.

The Gronckle tries to flee, but before it can, a gargantuan

dragon head juts from the steamy pit and SNAPS it out of the

air. Swallowing it back whole.

Hiccup and Astrid recoil, terrified.

Little kids hide behind toothless, and he surrounds them with his tail, hissing at the screen.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

What is that?

"that my friend, is the red death" Yay says

The monstrous beast SNIFFS the air, seemingly aware of them.

It nears the ledge where Toothless is hiding... and ROARS.

Several dragons take flight in fear.

HICCUP

Alright buddy, we gotta get out of

here. Now!

Toothless takes flight, barely evading the monster's snapping

jaws.

The behemoth dragon lunges for them, snatching a Zippleback

out of the air instead.

Toothless disappears into the winged exodus as thousands of

dragons flee the caldera in fear.

EXT. HIDDEN COVE - NIGHT - LATER

Toothless glides into the cove and touches down on the

moonlit beach.

ASTRID

(her mind reeling, talking

Hiccup's ear off)

No, no, it totally makes sense.

It's like a giant beehive. They're

the workers... and that's their

queen. It controls them.

She leaps off of Toothless and runs toward the village.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

Let's find your dad.

HICCUP

No, no! Not yet. They'll... kill

Toothless.

"what do you mean 'no'?" Stoick says, looking at his son with wide eyes

(BEAT)

HICCUP (CONT'D)

Astrid, we have to think this

through carefully.

Astrid eyes him, incredulous.

ASTRID

Hiccup, we just discovered the

dragons' nest...the thing we've

been after since Vikings first

sailed here. And you want to keep

it a secret? To protect your pet

dragon? Are you serious?

"the girl is right Hiccup, you are being selfish. You want to keep it a secret because you want to protect a dragon?"

hiccup looks at his father, meeting his eyes

Hiccup stands firm, resolute.

HICCUP

Yes.

"yes" he says at the same time as the Hiccup in the screen

Astrid's taken aback.

ASTRID

Okay.

(BEAT)

Then what do we do?

HICCUP

Just give me until tomorrow. I'll

figure something out.

ASTRID

Okay.

Astrid PUNCHES Hiccup in the arm.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

That's for kidnapping me.

Hiccup looks to Toothless for support. Toothless SNORTS,

dismissive.

Astrid grabs him. He braces for another hit. She KISSES

Hiccup on the cheek.

The two teens blush as everyone watches them (some people whistled), smiling like they forgot what they just saw.

ASTRID (CONT'D)

That's for, everything else.

In the awkward wake of the moment, Astrid hurries off...

leaving Hiccup RUBBING his cheek, stunned.

Toothless hobbles up, eyeing him.

HICCUP

What are you looking at?

"and this is really were you see your future" Yay smiles, then she stoppes, as she remembers the next scene. This was not going to be easy.

OKAY, SO… I HAVE TO WARN YOU, THERE WILL BE SOME HICCSTRID FRIENDSHIP IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. AND IN THE CHAPTER 10, THERE WILL BE YAY AND HICCUP FRIENDSHIP. BY THE WAY, I DO NOT SHIP YAY X HICCUP, HICCUP IS ASTRID'S AND YAY WOULD NEVER GET IN THE WAY OF HICCSTRID. BYE!