AN: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is a bit late! I just came out of my exam week, so I've been quite busy with that. I also will be busy for the next month or two, so I don't know how many chapters will be published during that time, let alone on time.

That being said, here are the responses, and then I'll get on with the chapter.

Aaquater: Great imagery! And I agree, Hiccup sure does have his work set out for him.

Surayo: Thanks! I usually prefer Snotlout as an antagonist as well, but I love seeing him and Hiccup being friends. It reminds me of the five minutes they were nice to each other in the eleventh book (if you've read the series).


Hiccup woke up right at dawn the next morning, with only one thing on his mind. (Hopefully,) today, Toothless would fly.

Hiccup grabbed the tail he had made last night, ran down to the cellar, grabbed a bag of fish, and ran, or at least, walked as fast a he could while lugging a bag of fish and a tail, to the cove. Upon entering, Toothless gave him an inquisitive stare. Hiccup figured he wanted to know what was carrying. So, Hiccup set down the tail. Then, he put down the bag, and pushed it over, and the fish came pouring out. Toothless began sniffing it right away, and Hiccup laughed.

"Why you want to eat that is beyond me," Hiccup half-laughed, half-tried not to gag. The not too distant memory of Toothless forcing Hiccup to eat regurgitated fish causing him to shudder. "You're not sharing this time," Hiccup warned at the dragon, still sniffing around.

"That's some salmon," Hiccup pointed with his toe, as Toothless was appearing to have a hard time identifying the fish. "There's some Icelandic cod. Don't confuse it with regular cod, this stuff is a step above. And, here," Hiccup kicked one of the larger ones. "Is a whole smoked eel."

Toothless drew back sharply and began to growl.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Hiccup exclaimed, his eyes wide. He picked up the eel. Toothless hissed. Hiccup frowned and held it closer. Toothless looked like he was about to pass out. Hiccup quickly threw it away. "It's okay," he soothed, "I don't like eels either."

Toothless seemed to have calmed down and began cautiously eating the fish. "See, there you go," Hiccup mumbled softly. He picked up the tail, and slowly made his way over to Toothless' tail. "Don't mind me," he almost sang as he set out the tail. "I'm just back here, minding my own business." He went to fasten the artificial tail to the real one, but Toothless moved himself over. "I'm helping you, y'know," Hiccup muttered, holding Toothless' tail with his knees while trying to fasten on the other tail. As he was about to fasten the buckle, Toothless began thumping his tail. "Come on," Hiccup groaned, fumbling with the buckle. "This will help you to fly again," he pointed out, finally finishing with the tail.

And Toothless took off immediately.

Hiccup bounced precariously on the end of the tail, holding tightly on to whatever he could, and willing himself not to look down. After a few seconds that felt like hours, he turned around to see Toothless flying towards the cove's wall, and almost instantaneously, they began to fall. Hiccup whipped around to see that the fake tail had not yet opened. He pulled on it, the tail springing to life. Hiccup looked back around but realized that Toothless was only going straight. He can't control where he goes, Hiccup thought to himself with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He pushed the fake tail downwards, and Toothless began to fly back into the cove. The dragon turned his head around to look Hiccup in the eye, before the Night Fury thrashed his tail. Hiccup fell into the lake below, with Toothless plummeting in quickly afterwards. Despite the rocky ride, Hiccup found himself cheering.

Toothless had gotten into the air.

Hiccup just had to help him.

He glanced up at the sky, and, realizing that training would be starting soon, Hiccup called a good-bye to Toothless, grabbed the leftover eel, and skipped on his way back to his house. Toothless is going to fly, kept ringing through his head. He quickly ate some bread for breakfast, humming between bites as he started thinking through some calculations for the tail. He figured he could control it by pulling on a rope, but I'd have to be with him then. He'd probably have to make a saddle.

Hiccup frowned, realizing how hard it would to keep Toothless a secret, especially since he would have to be with the dragon in order for him to fly. Difficult, definitely, he thought to himself as he walked to training, but worth it.


Snotlout paced the arena. It was completely bare, save for a few buckets of water off to the side. He wondered what dragon they'd be facing today. Despite wanting to fight dragons like Nightmares, he felt that it would probably be better if they wound up working with Terrors. That couldn't be too disastrous, he figured.

Hiccup walked in with a huge smile on his face. Snotlout was taken aback by this. He supposed the invention his cousin had been working on night turned out to be a success, but even then, Hiccup usually wouldn't be so… smile-y.

"Why are you so happy?" He asked, walking up to the younger boy.

"I'm not so happy," Hiccup replied without missing a beat, "I'm Hiccup."

Snotlout stifled a laugh, "That's such a bad joke, Hiccup. Why do you use it all the time?"

Hiccup snickered, "It's such a bad joke, Snotlout," he retorted, "Why do you laugh at it every time?"

Snotlout laughed loudly but stopped when he made eye-contact with Gobber.


"Let's get started then," the older man grunted. The teens formed a line in front of them, and Gobber paired them off, giving everyone a bucket of water. Then, he turned and opened the gates to the next dragon pen.

Immediately, bright green gas filled the ring. The recruits coughed and squinted their eyes, trying to see anything in the green fog.

Gobber's voice rung through the arena, "Remember, a wet dragon head can't produce fire. Make sure to get the right one, though.

Hiccup shook slightly, his back to Fishlegs, his partner. Not too far away, he heard Snotlout call out a, "there!" and Ruffnut and Astrid shrieking in response. There was a loud smacking noise, and then Tuffnut screaming. There was moment of eerie silence before Tuffnut began screaming again ("I am hurt, I am very much hurt!") and he ran past Hiccup and Fishlegs. As if that was its cue, one of the Zippelback's heads hovered towards Fishlegs. The boy quickly threw his water at the head, effectively dousing it. The dragon opened its mouth, and gas began to leak out.

"Oh," Fishlegs laughed nervously, "wrong head." The Zippelback switched from leaking gas, to spraying gas, directly at Fishlegs' face. The boy screamed and ran away.

The other head slithered into view, about three feet above Hiccup's head. He gulped and threw the bucket of water as hard as he could, though it only made it have the distance. The Zippelback seemed to grin at his attempts, and came closer in.

Hiccup backed up slowly, but he knew he could only do so for so long. I can't attack them, he thought to himself, mentally running through his options, and I don't think I can outrun them. He glanced around, the gas clearing slightly, but still not enough for him to see where the others were. I could call for help, but I don't think that would help in the long run. He ran his hand through his hair, when he felt something slimy on his shoulder.

The eel.

Toothless hated it, he thought desperately, Is it too much to guess the Zippelbacks would feel the same? He pulled out the fish, his eyes squeezed shut as he held it forward. The Zippelback hissed, and he opened his eyes slowly. It was retreating.

He stepped forward, the eel firmly in front of him. "Back," he called, moving faster now. The Zippelback continued backwards until it came into it's cage, "Good," Hiccup muttered. The gas was clearing now. He glanced at the eel, wondering what he would do with it. He threw it into the corner of the cage. "Now think about what you've done." He grinned and began to push the doors shut.

Once they were firmly closed, he turned around. He had to fight not to burst into laughter. Everyone was staring at him in shock. Fishlegs even dropped his bucket without noticing. Hiccup felt a new bought of laughter bubbling up. He had to get out, quick. "Well," he muttered, "I'm gonna, um, go now…"

He awkwardly walked towards the exit of the arena. He felt everyone's eyes on him, and it took every ounce of him to stop from laughing. Tears were even welling up in his eyes from the effort.

He was halfway to his house when he finally let it out. His sides hurt, as well as his cheeks, and tears were streaming down his face. He quickly wiped them up and tried to look normal as he went about the rest of his walk.

He heard someone running up behind him. He turned around to see Snotlout, panting slightly.

"How," he huffed, "did you do that?"

Hiccup shook his head earnestly, "I have no idea," he laughed, "I just hoped for the best."


Astrid roared as she forced her axe into a tree. "That's you, Snotlout," she muttered angrily, "for hitting me with the water instead of the dragon."

She turned, falling into a somersault, and then throwing her axe at a tree further away, "That's you, Fishlegs, for getting the wrong head."

She heaved it out, aiming her axe at a new tree, "And that's Hiccup, for-" but she stopped short. She really shouldn't be thinking this way about the other trainees.

"I am a Warrior," she muttered, pacing now, "It is my duty to protect the citizens from Berk, not too harm them."

She forced herself to breath deeply, "You have to be better than this, Hofferson," she scolded herself. She groaned and sat down. "It's your duty," she repeated, "you have to. They know you're going to. You can't prove them wrong." She leaned backwards until she was lying down. She felt tears filling her eyes. "You're not crying about this," she warned, "this is real life. Deal with it." Still, it wasn't long before her cheeks were wet.

She groaned and stood up, wiping her face. "Stop crying," she muttered. She sighed, glancing at her axe warily, before setting it down.

"Why can't everyone just protect themselves," she mumbled.

'Are you saying you don't want anyone defending your grandmother,' she imagined her father saying.

She grinned slightly, "Have you seen my grandmother?" she asked, trying to ignore the fact that she was talking to herself in the middle of the forest.

'Bad example,' her father would've said, 'Do you want Gothi defending herself?'

"Okay, so we protect the old. Good enough?" But she shook her head.

'For Thor's sake,' her father would say, 'just protect everyone.'

She grinned at the ridiculousness of the situation, and picked up her axe, and continued her training. Still, the thought nagged her, You have to protect everyone.


AN: How was that? Good, I hope.

I'll see you guys… sometime. No idea when I'll be posting next.

But I still will post updates weekly on my Instagram, googlegravityfanfics