Watching Future Mistakes

by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh

Just before Stoick returns from the search, all of Berk minus Mildew, and all the Nest minus the Red Death, are brought in a room to watch the movie of past and future, and how the war will end. With lots of twists and turns. Movie 1.

16. A Bright Future

Hey guys! I know it's been a looooong time, but I had to update all my other stories and WFM chapters always take a lot to write, both in terms of time and effort. I relatively recently updated DS (relatively as in I'm writing this AN the very day I've updated DarkerShade, but I have no idea how long it'll take for this chapter to follow up) and I've skipped A Rose Too Many, so now it's back into the HTTYD fandom! (My favourite!)

IMPORTANT!

Before you leave, I'd like to ask a little favour from you guys and girls and everything in-between (and outside of these labels, but this is getting long). There is an author called Eikntt here on FFN. She wrote the story "Watching Race To The Edge", which is like, incredible. The characters are mostly on-point (at least the ones we get to see in-depth in the show) and their interactions look like they were taken out of a RTTE episode themselves.

This author has clearly put a lot of effort into that story and I'd like you guys and girls and ^see above^ to try and check out her story. You don't have to like it, just give it a try. She's a relatively new author and I know it's hard to 'get off the ground', even if you write good stories.

Of course, this goes for all good-but-new authors… it's just that I don't browse around a lot and I only know about Eikntt.

So please, just give her "Watching Race To The Edge" a try. It's on my watchlist for a reason. ;-)

Also, little warning – this chapter's narration will be different from the previous ones. In the previous chapters, I could go as far as re-watching a scene 30 times before finishing it, to make it as precise as possible. Due to the fact that a normal WFM contained around 10 minutes of 'movie' and that this chapter has more than three times that amount, this chapter's narration will be mostly vague. I will watch it once or twice and then go by memory, hence why it'll be less detailed. Sorry, but a 40k chapter isn't the best idea… and would probably be too long for FFN anyway.

And finally, at the end of this chapter my OC will have to talk for a while with the characters. Don't worry, I hate OCs taking up part of the story just as much as you guys do, but unfortunately with how I've written this story, it's pretty much unavoidable. Plus I wanted my own twist to this… which is basically the moral of this whole story, lol.

See you all guys and girls and ^see above^ later, hopefully soon!

Khor E. Vlakhavlakh

PS – yes, I use my username like an actual name and I own it like a queen.

Final Chapter

The Vikings all settled down again, as Khor told them to, wondering exactly what was going to be shown.

The Gods' Herald (or so he said) grinned and picked out the first clip to show. This was going to be fun.

The screen opens to show a view of the ocean before a black, tiny silhouette shoots by, leaving sprays in its wake.

Toothless was already interested. That was most likely him, and if that was him, then chances were Hiccup was right there with him. He looked at Khor, remembering that this was supposedly an even farther-ahead future. "How far away is this?"

"Five to six years into the future, when you and Hiccup are twenty," replied the man, who was wearing a knowing grin for some reason.

"W-Wait, Toothless… you're the same age as me?" Hiccup asked, surprised by the new information. "I thought… well, honestly I supposed you were already an adult!"

"He is," Stormfly interjected. "He's just playful. But he is an adult."

"Dragons become adults as soon as they can fly and get food on their own, or a few months after that," Meatlug explained, ever the helpful one. "I'm not sure how it is for Vikings."

"As soon as you kill a dragon," Gobber answered cheerfully, oblivious to the sudden silence on the Vikings' side.

"But forget about that, I'm really excited to see the future," Hookfang commented. "Even if it's just the Night Fury and the little Viking, it's still… wow."

Hiccup wasn't sure he agreed. Sure, on one hand, he could see just how much better things were going… but on the other, he could also see just how badly things were going. It was fully possible for that dragon onscreen to be Toothless (and thus him) fleeing from a mob of angry Vikings for having messed up again and destroyed the village again.

Around him, people and dragons all seemed interested and fairly optimistic, not to mention that all the younger ones were eager to see how they would look in five years' time, Snotlout first and foremost was already bragging about his supposed future lady-charming looks. For Thor's sake, even Astrid seemed excited about it.

Hiccup? Not so much. He'd always been a runt. It wasn't just his size – Ruff, Tuff and Astrid were all his size too – but also his clumsiness and his awkwardness and most of all him being constantly side-by-side with his overly immense father. He didn't think it had changed much in the future. Perhaps he would get a little taller and maybe (hopefully) get some meat on his bones, but he wouldn't bet on it.

Really, he just wanted to be taller than Snotlout. Petty as it was, that was all he asked for. Besides, Snotlout was still going to be four times his weight (probably) so at least he could have him beat height-wise.

The black silhouette is revealed to be Toothless, now 20 years old, with an equally 20-year-old Hiccup laying on his back, stomach pressed on the saddle and legs stretched out behind him, not in the pedals. He is holding onto the saddle and wears a mask to protect his face from the wind.

The outfit of the boy (now man) has changed a lot, now a full bodysuit made of leather, reinforced in some places and fastened with laces and belts. The mask vaguely resembles a dragon's head.

A few impressed whistles rang out at the sight. The suit looked very cool and most importantly, very well-made. It looked highly resistant (or as resistant as something that wasn't armour could be), but didn't seem to get in the way. Of course they couldn't know that, but Hiccup wouldn't wear it if it hindered him. Especially not while flying.

Speaking of which, they had no idea how much of it was him and how much was just the suit stuffing him up, but he seemed to have grown up well.

"I cannot be sure, but comparing him to Toothless, I'd say he's taller than any of us," Fishlegs commented, slightly downcast at not being the tallest of the group any longer (that was actually fun, though he'd never say that in front of the others). He could still hope his future self was taller yet, but he knew he'd hit his growth spurt already. He probably wouldn't grow much more.

Hiccup himself could barely believe it. He often joked, in the private sanctuary of the forge and some rare times with his father (whenever he was in a very good mood), about his body mass or lack thereof, and he was perfectly comfortable with the less-than-appealing body he had. It didn't really bother him. How people treated him for it, yeah that got annoying real quick, but his body by itself had never been a problem.

Still, that suit didn't seem to pad him up, if anything it was very form-fitting, which meant he was much taller (though likely still only reached his dad's shoulder or something) and also buffer. Not to the level of a normal Viking, but he'd still filled out a little.

Again, he didn't really care about his body and how it looked like, but being taller could be useful and hey, he wasn't going to complain about looking better.

The other teens made a few comments, but he tuned them out. They were mostly vague congratulations on 'ageing well, like fine wine' (from Tuff) or comments on their own possible future looks. Glancing at Astrid, he tried to imagine how she would look, but the mental image was so perfect he preferred to chase it away and wait to see it. After all, she couldn't get that beautiful, right? There had to be some sort of limit.

Stoick suddenly had flashbacks to Valka. She had been thin too back when she'd been a little girl, though she had always been as strong as, if not stronger, than most boys (not him, but well, that was hardly fair). And she'd never lost her willowy, slender figure… and neither her strength, considering she only barely lost to Spitelout, the last time they arm-wrestled. If she'd still been alive, perhaps she would've beaten her brother by now.

Hiccup had never shown Valka's strength nor her attunement to weapons (the reason he'd been taken by her in the first place was her skill, though later he fell for the girl as well), nor had he ever shown her liking for combat. She hated blood and violence, but she loved to spar.

Hiccup had never been like either of his parents, but at least he'd gotten the luck of inheriting Valka's body type.

Hiccup sits up on the saddle as he and Toothless launch into a series of daring acrobatic manoeuvres in the air, darting through and around the clouds and letting themselves fall through the air before righting themselves.

Toothless was marginally impressed. While he was physically able to do that already, his future self obviously had more skill and finesse. Who knew, maybe he could pick up some tricks already.

Some Vikings went 'oohh', even though Stoick's smile had become strained after seeing his son pull those stunts.

"So what do you think, bud?" the rider asks, pulling back the handles into the saddle and sitting up. He looks down at his dragon. "Wanna give this another shot?"

Toothless grumbles.

"What did you say?" Hiccup asked, looking at his friend.

"Nothing. I don't always say something," replied the dragon, snorting. Vikings made incoherent sounds all the time, why would dragons not do the same? No, he was more curious about his apparent reluctance. He'd never say no to aerial acrobatics, so 'it' had to be something else. But what else could it be?

"Toothless, it will be fine!" Hiccup cheerfully reassures him, which does not ease the dragon at all, going by his frown. Hiccup unfastens his straps and disengages his metal leg from the pedal, opening the tail fully. "Ready?"

"What are you going to do? Flip over the dragon and land back on the saddle?" Snotlout scoffed. "I think you should trust your dragon on this."

"Why would you think I'd do a flip?" Hiccup wondered, confused.

"Hey, you're the one up in the air, there's not much else you can do."

"Or maybe he's just jump off his dragon!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "That would be awesome."

"Seriously awesome," echoed his sister.

"I really don't think Hiccup is going to do anything you two idiots consider 'awesome'," Snotlout commented.

Hiccup then slides off the saddle with a delighted yell, Toothless diving down after him.

"You were saying, Snotlout?" Ruffnut grinned at the slack-jawed Viking.

Stoick sighed. Normally, he'd be freaking out at seeing his son in danger… but after seeing the future and witnessing the death-defying stunt he pulled with the Dragon Queen, this was actually kinda tame. This did not mean it didn't give him a pointless headache for worrying over him. "Hiccup, if this is related to another of those inventions of yours, you're grounded for a month." He had the inkling it was related to that.

Hiccup grinned sheepishly, having the same foreboding feeling. "I can't train the other dragons if I'm grounded though… wouldn't it be better to ground me once I actually do this?"

"You'll be grounded after you killed that thing… how did you choose to call it again? The Red Death. Once that thing is as dead as its namesake, you are grounded for a month."

'And now I really hope it's not about one of my inventions… oh, who am I kidding, this is totally another of my genius trinkets,' Hiccup thought gloomily. He loved his inventions and he loved tinkering, but seriously, they got him in trouble more often than not. He had not idea what he was going to test out, but it probably wouldn't even work. Thor damn it.

Hiccup and Toothless fall side-by-side for a few seconds before the ocean comes into view as they fall through the clouds.

The rider then passes his hands through leather hoops by his legs and pulls, revealing his flight suit. As the 'wings' unfold, the wind catches them and pulls the man up, sending him into a glide.

Everyone's jaws dropped including, no especially, the dragons'.

A flying human.

Mother Boulder, the old Gronckle who had smack-talked Hiccup earlier, simply fainted.

Too dumbstruck to do anything but stare in silence, the inhabitants of the hall simply let the screen continue to show the boy's (the man's, by now) graceful glide through the air.

After flying through a few clouds, each on his own, Toothless sees that Hiccup is starting to descend again, and uses a few well-aimed plasma blasts to push him back up. Hiccup cheers, calling it amazing.

"What in the name of Thor is that?!" a random Viking yelled, flabbergasted by the sight of a flying human.

"I can't believe it… I've thought about flying contraptions to take away the dragon's advantage of flight, but I never thought I'd ever actually make a Viking fly…" Hiccup murmured, amazed. "It's… it's unbelievable."

"You're the first Viking to ever fly on his own, Hiccup," Astrid whispered, just as impressed. The immensity of that seemingly simple action struck them both, leaving them staggering.

The first human to ever fly.

And unless he decided to make the others a suit like that, he would be the only human to ever fly.

Hiccup didn't know what to feel. Pride, that was certain. He'd never been one to boast or bask in the praise, in fact Gobber's praise for his good smithing would only leave him embarrassed or flustered, but Odin knew how much he loved his inventions. To see one not only working despite all evidence that it shouldn't, but one that important, that revolutionary.

Another thought struck him. If things went wrong, if he wasn't allowed to fly on Toothless any more for whatever reason… he could make his own pair of wings. His brain could give him wings, if he applied himself hard enough. The simple knowledge of having done it was making him feel light-headed with awe.

In the midst of all the amazed murmurs, there was only one person who wasn't happy.

Snotlout was staring at the screen, horrified beyond anything he'd ever been in his life.

He never really hated Hiccup (unless he had somehow burned down his house again with his inventions) and he would admit (to himself, never to others) that if someone deserved a little more praise and self-esteem boosts, that was Hiccup. But now that he saw future Hiccup's inventions…

He still didn't hate him. But he felt threatened. No, not threatened, he felt defeated and robbed and crushed.

Snotlout deep down knew that he was nothing special. Short, brawny, dumb… those were his good qualities. He may have had a flair for being overly dramatic sometimes, and he was definitely better than Hiccup at fighting (for now, a treacherous voice in his head reminded him), but other than that, what did he have over the heir?

Not much.

And in the future, Hiccup looked amazing. He'd barely done anything and hadn't even spoken yet, and yet he still looked incredible, the type of guy one would turn around to stare at in marvel if he walked through town. The type of guy so far above you it's not even funny. He wasn't a fighter but he was smart, very smart. And smart people would be needed after the war ended. He was an incredible Dragon Rider. He would probably be like a prince to the town, not just an heir but the Pride of Berk itself!

And where would that leave Snotlout? Fishlegs could become a dragon expert. Astrid – who was he kidding, Astrid was going to be right beside Hiccup in amazing-ness… and probably for more romantic reasons too. And the twins weren't exactly known for caring about people's opinion.

Who was he going to be in the future? The last wheel of the cart? The guy everyone always forgot about? The new screw-up? The incompetent idiot who was only in the team because he was the only one free during the war to be taught to ride dragons?

Or worse still, would he even be still part of the team, or would they drop him? What did he have to offer? He boasted a lot and he tried to show off, but what did he actually have?

Sure, he had a good idea or two every now and then, but those wouldn't be enough. Even Tuffnut had some good ideas occasionally.

Would Hiccup's rise in popularity be at his expenses?

And the worst part was, he could totally understand if his future self had actually allowed it to happen without a fight. Heck, he would allow it without a fight. Hiccup had earned it, after training a hostile Night Fury. But that would mean that his future was going to be watching his friends move on, leaving him behind.

And he would accept that, because he would have no other choice. None that he would be willing to take.

No one else noticed his discomfort, too busy in their cheers, so Snotlout didn't even try to hide his pained grimace. He was proud and happy for his friend… he just wasn't ready to admit it just yet.

Beside him, however, someone did notice his behaviour. Tuffnut glanced at him, sensing his depression, and for the first time in a long while the male twin felt a twinge of empathy. In a way, he could see what was troubling Snotlout. All the teens knew of his personal problems, especially about his father and his self-esteem, so it wasn't hard to see why he looked so down.

But understanding would be as far as he would go, because Tuffnut was good at destroying things… not fixing them.

Hopefully, someone else would be able to solve the problem. Snotlout was the closest thing Tuffnut had ever had to a friend, albeit a rude and bossy one. Maybe he could mention it to… who, exactly? The name that instantly popped up was Hiccup, because he was smart. Astrid was smart but helping Snotlout with his self-esteem? Yeah, no way. And Fishlegs knew stuff but he was dumb.

But why would Hiccup do anything about it? That is, if Tuffnut even actually managed to mention it without screwing up. 'No, it's better to wait. Beside- Oh wow, there's a giant rock in front of Hiccup!'

He wasn't the only one to notice it.

A large rock formation appears from the clouds up ahead, and Hiccup suddenly doesn't find it so amazing any more. He calls for Toothless, who has trouble flying on his own.

"Just blast that rock to pieces," Stormfly rolled her eyes.

Toothless didn't say anything. He was probably going to do it soon anyway.

Catching up to Hiccup but unable to change trajectory, the Night Fury blasts the rock pillar to pieces with a plasma shot and wraps himself around his rider. The two fly through the debris and smoke, landing on the island behind it, and roll downhill for a while before stopping in a clearing overlooking a precipice.

Stoick silently exhaled in relief. "Well, at least I know one of them can protect himself," he mumbled sarcastically. Five years into the future and his son put himself in danger just as much as now, if not more since he was not there to save him.

Gobber just shrugged. "He's Hiccup," he said, as if that explained everything.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiccup asked, offended. The two adults exchanged a glance, having forgotten that the teens were there beside them as well.

"Son, your definition of 'safe' and mine are very different."

"Yeah, they are vastly different," Tuffnut cut in with a snicker, almost in tears in mirth. "'Cause he's Stoick the Vast, get it? See what I did?" Nobody laughed with him and he sobered up. "Jeez, you guys have no sense of humour."

"Y-You guys charge fire-breathing dragons with no-no shields -even if Gobber said those are more important than swords or-or axes- basically every other week, and you admonish me?" Hiccup asked, incredulous. "I-I could put together all the inventions I made and-and they still wouldn't be as dangerous as what you guys do every time the dragons attack. For Thor's sake, Dragon Training was more dangerous than that! Plus, future me was flying really high, there was a-a tiny chance of an island being there and tall enough! Earlier when he -I- was flying over the ocean, there were no islands in sight! It's not my fault!"

"You know what, he does make a pretty good point," Astrid pointed out, glancing at Stoick to see his reaction.

The Chief sighed. He just knew that gliding in the clouds was going to end up being the least dangerous thing his son did, but he couldn't argue now, could he? "Fine. I'll hold off judgement until you are actually at fault for putting yourself in danger. Then you're grounded."

"Besides, a little danger is totally worth being able to fly," Hiccup mumbled under his breath before remembering something. "Wait, Toothless, didn't you predict this a while back?"

"I did?" Toothless wondered, confused, before recalling. "Oh yes, it was when we'd just seen you crash-land us into the lake!" He turned to stare smugly at Stormfly. "Told you he could fly on his own."

Stormfly didn't reply. What rotten luck did she have, for her to make that comment on the only human who could ever fly without wings? Like, how unlikely was it? But of course she'd jinxed herself.

"Well, I guess that makes Hiccup officially a dragon!" Barf exclaimed grinning. "What should we name his species?"

"What about Dragon Trainer?" Fishlegs suggested. "It does fit…"

"No, my dear overweight friend-" "Hey!" "-you must look beyond his dragon training skills and see who he truly is!" Tuffnut proclaimed solemnly before squinting at the boy sitting on the other side of Toothless. "I now declare you a… a… Dovahkin!"

"…"

"...a what?" Snotlout repeated as everyone stared at the male twin, puzzled.

"You don't like it?" The boy seemed sad at the notion, but pulled himself together quickly. "What about… Let's see… he looks like a quarter of a Viking… but acts like a dragon… outside, Berkian, inside, Dragon… I got it! Berkian Dragonsoul!"

Hiccup groaned, face-palming. "Guys, can we just not give me a name or anything? Can't we keep watching instead?"

"Hiccup's right, guys, there's no need for a name for him! He's just Hiccup!" Fishlegs supported him before leaning over to whisper to Tuffnut, "I like that name though."

Toothless unfolds his wings and Hiccup switches his prosthetic from flying mode to walking mode before he gets up, tucking away his 'wings' and commenting about the suddenness of the rock formation's appearance.

"Looks like your prediction came true, you did modify it quite a bit," Gobber commented cheerfully. He knew that as far as prosthetics went, Hiccup's was probably going to be the most advanced. Not that Gobber didn't have the skill to create better ones, he simply lacked the motivation and the creativity.

"That's good, it fits the suit," Hiccup nodded, slightly relieved. Not that there was anything wrong with his future Gobber-made prosthetic, but it did look a bit… rough and unrefined. Too much Viking-like for him.

Behind them, the mountain of stone crumples into the sea. Hiccup glances at it, unfazed, while Toothless grumbles, shaking off small pebbles.

"You just destroyed a small mountain!" Tuffnut exclaimed, in awe. "Sis, could this mean what I think it means?"

"Could Hiccup be coming over to our side?" Ruffnut wondered, equally impressed by the sheer accidental destruction Hiccup had just shrugged off. "Just when I thought Hiccup was about to stop causing explosions, he goes and becomes actually interesting!"

"Guys, that was an accident," Astrid tried to reason with them. "He didn't mean to destroy it."

"Tomayto, tomahto," Tuffnut replied, waving off her words nonchalantly. "He still did."

Ignoring him, Hiccup takes off his helmet and gazes at the landscape, walking closer to the edge to take in the sight.

Quite a few jaws dropped and a few impressed whistles rang out. Even the dragons, who didn't know much about Viking standards of good looks, could see that he'd definitely grown well.

"Oh, come on! That's Hiccup?" Snotlout complained loudly, gesturing hopelessly at the screen. "How's that even possible! He's barely recognizable!"

"Jealous, Snotlout?" Ruffnut teased him, gently elbowing his side. True, future Hiccup was really good-looking, but she didn't do no gentle soul like him. Plus, she doubted she had a chance anyway. No point in pining after impossible chances. Besides, if he'd aged so well, maybe she'd gotten better too and had guys swarming her… though she wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"What, me? Pfft." He was, he really was. "He'll never beat my beautiful face. And I'll look even better in five years! I'm still growing!"

"Let's hope you grow a brain too, then," Astrid sassed him, causing Fishlegs to snicker quietly and earning herself a dirty look from the Jorgenson father and son duo.

Beside her, Hiccup was ignoring the banter. He never really cared for looks, but he sure grew up nicely. Even he would admit that. And it looked like he'd filled out a little too. Heh, who knew, maybe he would've gotten out of his 'runt' phase and gotten more respect even hadn't he ended the war. But aside that, his future looks weren't really what he was focusing on.

The light pink on Astrid's cheeks was something to make note of, though.

Stoick made note of that too, because honestly he really wished those two would get together in the future, but his attention was somewhere else. It seemed that Hiccup hadn't just inherited his mother's body type, but also most of her features. He looked like a male Valka. Except for the high-pitched voice. He had no idea where he'd gotten that one, since both he and Valka had deep voices… maybe from the Jorgenson's side of the family. Valka might've had a deeper voice, but Spitelout's was really high-pitched, something he got teased a lot for when he was younger. Perhaps it was that.

But at least his son had grown up well. Appearances mattered, after all. Now, if only his son could bulk up a little… He had no hopes he'd grow up in time for the chiefly painting to be hung in the Great Hall, but maybe in the future he could have that painting remade.

The screen then cut to black, surprising everyone.

"Is it over already?" Snotlout complained. Seeing Hiccup being awesome had been… well, awesome… but now he wanted to see more of the future! Possibly also to see how he looked in five years. Or even just a couple.

"Of course not, we're just going to watch a different part of the future," calmly replied the herald of the Gods (if only they knew), gesturing to the screen. "I just thought that cleanly separating the segments would've been better. Don't you think?"

"What's next?" asked Astrid, unconsciously straightening up a little. She still wanted to see her future self.

"Well, I was going to continue this, but skipping to when you arrive, actually," Khor admitted with a shrug.

"What are you 'skipping'?" Fishlegs questioned. He didn't want to be pushy, but every second of the future could contain immense knowledge, not to mention that future Hiccup could do or say something important that they could take note of, like past events and such. He was really reluctant to skip even a minute.

"Just a scene between Toothless and Hiccup, a couple of minutes really."

"Hey!" Toothless exclaimed, offended and also kind of ticked off. "Why are you skipping me?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm with Toothless on this," Hiccup agreed, though he couldn't deny that it was really tempting to 'skip to when Astrid arrived' even just to see how the two of them would act in the future.

"Alright then, continue it is."

The screen resumes to where it left off.

While looking at the landscape, Hiccup is hit with a pebble and turns to look at Toothless, who tries to act innocent. Hiccup teasingly asks him if he wants an apology and then tries to tackle his neck, keyword being try. As he keeps teasing him, the dragon stands up on his hind legs and walks over to the precipice, where Hiccup panics and holds on tighter.

"Big… baby… boo?" Snotlout repeated, weirded out by the nickname. "What in Thor's name is that, Hiccup?"

"H-Hey, this hasn't happened yet! Why are you looking at me?!" Hiccup then glanced at Toothless, who was grinning at his future self's easy way of winning the argument. "You wouldn't actually do that, right, bud?"

"Drop you? No. Threaten to drop you? Oh yes." Toothless grinned a grin that went totally against his namesake. "Especially if it means winning all arguments. Otherwise it's kinda hard when I can't talk your language and you can't talk mine."

Eventually Toothless falls backwards with a draconic laugh as he and Hiccup start to playfully bat at each other… until Toothless gets bored and drops his head on Hiccup's chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"Ow," Hiccup mumbled, throwing his dragon a glare, to which he grinned wider.

"You two seem really close," Astrid noticed with a small smile. She silently hoped she would have as strong of a bond as them with her own dragon, which she still needed to name anyway.

"Well, I guess five years together have had a good effect on our friendship, eh bud?" the heir replied, rubbing the top of his dragon's head.

Then the Night Fury starts to lick his face, coating him in a layer of salive. Hiccup pushes him off and rolls away, wiping his face and front from the slimy liquid before flicking some at the laughing Toothless, who frowns and cleans off the drops by licking his paw and rubbing it on his head like a cat.

"Uhh…" a random Viking muttered, confused, as she raised her hand. "Why is he cleaning off saliva with more saliva?"

"I'm not wiping it off, I'm just putting an even spread of it."

Hiccup walks off, pulling out a map from his suit alongside a pencil and a compass before sharpening the pencil and carefully drawing the island's outline on a blank piece of paper.

Hiccup took note of the additional gadgets. Now those would be useful.

He has Toothless name it 'Itchy Armpit' and glues the paper to the rest of the huge map before sitting back to look at the horizon, wondering out loud what kind of dragons they would find. He then asks Toothless if he wants to keep going.

"Itchy Armpit… mmh… Fitting name, I suppose," Gobber joked with a sarcastic grin.

"Wh-Why are you looking at me? Toothless chose it," Hiccup defended himself, gesturing towards his dragon, who actually nodded in agreement.

"I'm really happy he let me choose," the Night Fury confirmed. Sure, Itchy Armpit wasn't the best-sounding name ever, but it did fit in with the Meridian of Misery, with Hopeless, Freezing to Death and Berk. After all, 'berk' meant 'stupid'! He was just choosing a name to go with the rest.

"Wait, are you telling me Toothless actually did that on purpose?" Astrid asked, a note of disbelief in her voice. Sure, Toothless had proven to be intelligent enough to understand Hiccup and he did have some very human-like behaviours at times, but it wouldn't go that far, right?

"I didn't complain afterwards, so I accepted the name."

"Still though…" Snotlout was looking oddly at Hiccup. "Don't let Hiccup name anything, 'cause he sucks at it. I mean, Toothless, Itchy Armpit? Seriously?"

Khor hid a smirk. 'Bright Fury… Dragon Blade… Dragon Shield… Though honestly, Inferno sounded hella cool and the upgraded, two-handed version was amazing. Plus the Shadow Wings. The Dragonfly project wasn't a bad name either. He did have his moments.'

"How would you have named it? Snotland?" Stormfly didn't wait for Snotlout to confirm that yes, Snotland would've been a great name for all the new islands he found, and continued nonetheless, "Besides, that's bold coming from an island called Berk."

"And from a tribe called 'Hairy Hooligans'," Meatlug added, recalling hearing some Vikings mention it while she was trapped in the Arena.

"O-Okay, okay, you-you've made your point," Hiccup stammered slightly as he raised his hands to stop any further comment. "Let's… let's just keep watching, okay?"

Toothless croons, but then Astrid arrives on Stormfly, before dismounting and briefly greeting the Night Fury, who then started to play with Stormfly.

The Deadly Nadder was a tad curious, both about her rider and her behaviour. Sure, being trapped in the Arena might've soured her up a bit, but she couldn't see herself playing games with Toothless, or at all. She supposed anything could happen in five years' time. She completely ignored how Astrid had changed, not really knowing the girl well yet.

In some way, the Vikings didn't react with as much shock to Astrid's future appearance as they did with Hiccup's. Partly it was because they were now expecting surprises, with it being the future and all, but mostly because while Astrid had definitely grown into a beautiful young woman, she hadn't changed nearly as much as Hiccup had. And besides, everyone knew she was going to look incredible in the future.

Hiccup gaped at the screen for a few seconds, not unlike how he'd stared at her back during that infamous raid. He was going to have to apologize to the Valkyries one day, but honestly he could easily say that they couldn't even compare to Astrid.

Snotlout was, ironically, less shocked than Hiccup. He didn't really care about looks as long as they weren't hideous, since he was more than gorgeous enough for both, but he did have to say that future Astrid was beautiful! Maybe a little too skinny, but everyone must've thinned up now that Hiccup was the role model. He highly doubted he would have an actual chance, but he really hoped his future self was milking the opportunity for all that was worth before Astrid and Hiccup got together – after all, making advances on an already betrothed woman was dishonourable… unless the fiancé was really crappy or if it was in jest.

Fishlegs tried not to meet Astrid's eyes as she glared around to dare anyone to comment on her appearance. Truth was, like most kids, Fishlegs did have a small crush on Astrid. Who didn't? He was pretty sure that even Ruffnut had had some thoughts. She was just so admirable, and admiration could easily turn into a celebrity crush. The blond nerd was just happy he had never done anything stupid about his crush, like Snotlout. Besides, now that axing things to pieces wasn't the go-to MO any more (or at least he hoped not), maybe his celebrity crush would subside. It would be really embarrassing otherwise.

Stoick, on his part, was happy for Astrid. While it was true that he would like to see her and his son together, even just seeing her happy was okay. Daughter-in-law or not, it was good to see that even the normally no-nonsense Astrid had learned how to smile a little bit more in the future. It gave him hope that maybe the four-hundred-years war had left less lasting damage than he feared.

The Hofferson parents were just too proud to put into words.

"Looking good, babe," Snotlout grinned, though it came out more teasing than flirting.

Astrid glared at him.

Beside her, Hiccup managed to shake himself out of the trance. Now that he and Astrid were friends (they were, right?), he felt he should focus on building that bond first before getting ahead of himself. Besides, with the war over, maybe the village wouldn't be such a terrible place to live in, and he would actually have a lot of other things to like. Not that he was objectifying Astrid, but it was very easy to be overwhelmed by his crush for her when it was literally the only thing that could be counted as pleasant in the village. Sure he loved smithing, but not when it meant the dragons were out and about destroying houses and killing people.

Astrid then greets Hiccup, who greets her back, calling her 'Milady'.

There were a few impressed whistles, and even Astrid had to admit she wasn't expecting that. She didn't really mind the nickname – it wasn't a dumb or stupidly saccharine one like the ones Snotlout sometimes came up with, but instead a mix of playful respect and warm closeness. As long as he didn't overuse it -she had a name after all- she was okay with it.

"You gave Astrid Hofferson a pet name?" Snotlout asked, incredulous and oblivious to his poor choice of word.

"A what?!" the Shieldmaiden repeated, going from neutral to furious in the blink of an eye. She did have her axe with her, but that Thor-damned magical protection would probably save Snotlout anyway.

"S-Snotlout!" Hiccup scolded, embarrassed by the implications was also annoyed by his cousin's crassness. "Wh-What is wrong with you?!"

"Children, stop arguing before I have to step in," Gobber warned them, though his threat rang empty as it lacked any kind of heat behind it. Besides, even if he did step in, no one could hold down an angry Astrid.

With one final glare at Snotlout, Astrid returned to look at the screen, and the stocky boy let out a silent sigh of relief.

As they keep talking, Astrid sits down next to Hiccup and takes the pencil from him, adding details to the map.

Three people had three different reactions to this.

Astrid was curious and slightly flustered by her choice to sit right next to Hiccup, but she was also interested in how she was 'winning races'. If that meant what she thought it meant, then this future was going to be amazing.

Hiccup was disappointed that even in the future, he didn't get along with his dad. But he quickly pushed that aside – it was nothing new, was it? He chose to focus on Astrid's intentional closeness and found himself blushing slightly.

Stoick, instead, ignored the two teens' flustered expressions and frowned upon hearing his son was running away from him, especially since Astrid's reply of 'oh no, what happened now?' implied that wasn't the first time it happened. Maybe it wasn't a recurring thing, but it still happened often enough for Astrid to not even be worried about it, instead focusing on the map.

The Chief exchanged a glance with Gobber.

'He's still avoiding me, even in five years. I wonder if I'm still avoiding him too,' he tried to convey through his eyes, 'what if without all this 'foreseeing' thing was so important that without it, I never fixed my treatment of my son?'

Gobber just nodded at him before glancing at the screen, telling him to keep watching.

Stoick was sure his old friend had understood. At least he wasn't worried…

Meanwhile, in Gobber's mind… 'Those two look better than an axe and a shield together. Even the old bugger can see it. Well, they would be around twenty now so…' He met Stoick's eyes and nodded. 'Yeah, I saw it too. They are too close to be just friends. There's definitely something going on here.'

Both Vikings returned to watch the screen, unaware of the completely different trains of thoughts they erroneously thought they shared.

Hiccup confesses he had a talk with his father, and Astrid responds to his imitation of his father with one of her own – imitating Hiccup. The two laugh -mostly Astrid though- and Hiccup kneels down in front of her, grabbing her arms and telling her to be serious, while she makes a mock serious pout at him.

Everyone's jaws dropped for the second time that day. Hiccup and Astrid weren't even embarrassed by their future selves' obvious closeness. Since when did those two act even remotely like that? Hiccup being confident, not stuttering out of nervousness, and playing around with Astrid? Astrid being playful, laughing and acting so carefree?

Sure, it wasn't as world-shattering as a Viking flying on his own, or as a trained Night Fury, but still it was something none of them thought would ever happen.

"For the love of Odin, did that really just happen?" Fishlegs asked, incredulous.

"Aye, it did!" a random Viking, Mould, called out.

"Just how much have things changed?" random Viking #2, aka Nere, asked, not knowing what to think any more. She thought she knew those two and yet… true, five years were a long time, but still that kind of change was kinda drastic.

Hiccup keeps talking, and Astrid smiles fondly before she realizes what he's implying. She interrupts him and gets up, punching him (which makes his 'dorsal fin' pop out) in congratulations. She then laughs as he rewinds the spring, complaining about her wearing it out. She nods with a teasing pout, not taking him seriously at all.

Everyone was speechless. Ironically, it was more because of how obviously close the two young adults on screen were, rather than about the implications. After all, Hiccup was the Heir of Berk, so everyone knew he would one day be chief. Up until then, they simply had dreaded the day. And to tell the truth, they still were doubtful of Hiccup's capabilities as a Chief. Sure he could train dragons, but that didn't mean he was fit to lead a Viking tribe.

So everyone just merrily ignored the chief comment to internally awe at the two lovebirds. Only an absolute moron wouldn't be able to see the chemistry between them and despite not being the smartest out there, they weren't that dumb.

On the other hand, Stoick was focused on that. The good of the tribe came before his joy at seeing his son so close to the Hofferson girl. He wasn't sure his son would make a good chief, so why was he trying to pass on the mantle so soon? He could easily wait until his death.

Hiccup, instead, was feeling elated that his father had finally started to trust him with some responsibilities. While he had not anticipated becoming Chief so early, it just went to show just how much his father trusted him in the future.

Khor watched the two of them and shook his head. How much had they changed in just five years…

Then they are suddenly bowled over by the two playing dragons.

Stormfly still couldn't believe she'd be so playful.

Everyone else laughed lightly, enjoying the small funny scene.

Getting back up, Astrid is initially happy for Hiccup and offers to help him adjust to his new life, offering to fly Toothless herself and mentioning that he'll have to put a stop on his travelling for a while, while gathering up said map and giving it to Hiccup, before she stops and turns around, realization spreading on her face and a silent gaps moving her lips.

Toothless was the only one who had an inkling why the boy looked so downcast. He was a creature of the sky now, and he wouldn't abandon his freedom like that.

Everyone else, Hiccup included, couldn't understand why Astrid was suddenly looking so sorry for the boy. Even the dragons had to admit that becoming the leader of his tribe at such a young age was a great honour.

Hiccup himself didn't know why he was so reluctant to become Chief.

Saddened, Hiccup tells her that being Chief is not who he is nor who he wants to be. Astrid tries to convince him, but he says that he's not like her, nor like his father, and that he's never met his mother, and he's unsure of what he is or who he may be. He sits down near the edge of the cliff, staring at the horizon.

Most of the people and dragons were still confused, but a few were starting to see what Hiccup meant.

Stoick first and foremost.

For the longest time, his son had tried to be like him, always failing. Was it possible that in his endless quest for his approval, he'd forgotten to check what he wanted to be? Could it be that his absent parenting had taken even that away from him, his identity? That in his blindness, he had piled up just another responsibility on his son, not caring to ask him if he wanted it?

Hiccup too was starting to understand. He had never thought about it that way. Now that he didn't need to kill dragons to be accepted… what was he going to do? The obvious answer was to stick to matters dragon-related since it was the only field of expertise he seemed to be doing well in, and he couldn't say he wasn't interested in learning more about them, but what did he want to do? He knew Astrid wanted to be a warrior, part of the Berk guard and all. And the other teens probably had their own closet dreams, even though not as defined as Astrid's. But what about him?

Perhaps he should start looking sooner, and maybe he'd be ready by the time his father chose for him to become Chief.

Of all the teens, Astrid was the one who could understand that best. The twins just never thought about it, and Snotlout was too busy bragging to give a thought to the future. Fishlegs wanted to become a botanic expert (or more likely a farmer) since he was seven.

It was ironic since Astrid was the one who had, as future Hiccup said, always known who she was. She was a warrior. She would always be. But the simple thought of not having that stable goal in her life was terrifying. Living life day-by-day wasn't a bad thing per se, but on the long run it did feel more like surviving, than really living.

She had no idea how to help Hiccup, but she could understand why he was so hesitant. What would happen if he were to become Chief, only to discover that he'd trapped himself forever?

Astrid walks up to him and sits down beside him, sending him a loving look before starting to braid his hair. "What you're searching for… isn't out there, Hiccup," she tells him before putting a hand on his chest, "It's in here."

Toothless was the only one to realize what she meant, and he was startled as he realized that… Hiccup's freedom had, ironically, bound him tighter than being flightless had. Hiccup had taken refuge in the sky and hadn't accepted his Viking heritage not because he didn't want to, but because he was scared of what would happen if he did. He thought he would have to give up his freedom, and after so long of being caged on the ground and in disappointment, there were very few things worth his freedom.

Everyone else thought she meant some kind of self-reflection, and in some way Toothless supposed that was true.

But this Hiccup had done plenty of self-reflection. He wouldn't have changed so much otherwise. No, the problem was that after the war, Hiccup hadn't accepted being part of the tribe. He had been so used to 'not being one of them' that the thought of becoming one was scary, as if he would have to abandon the freedom he'd discovered away from Berk.

And it wasn't like Toothless could blame him for that – aside from early childhood, his entire life had probably been filled with disappointment and distant parenting and neglect and in some cases even humiliation, and Hiccup just couldn't see Berk as a place he could be happy to live in.

What future Astrid was telling him wasn't to stay on the ground and abandon his travels, but to let go of his fears.

With a start, Toothless also realized something else, something that maybe only Hiccup and Astrid herself had realized.

In the future, Astrid was closer to Hiccup than Toothless himself was.

Maybe not by much, but if Astrid knew Hiccup that well, then it could've only meant one thing.

She was his support. Maybe not his only source of support, but she was the one who would always be there for him. And while he'd like to think he would too, it was obvious those two had an impossibly strong bond.

And with that, came the terrifying realization that once Hiccup settled down, once he became Chief and had a family, he and Toothless might have to stay separate for long periods of time. Or even worse, that they would have to say goodbye to each other for good. Toothless couldn't live grounded like other dragons. He needed to fly. If Hiccup settled down, and from the looks of things in the future he would solve his issues and settle down (probably with Astrid), then he and Toothless might have to part ways.

Heartbroken, Toothless wanted to tune out the remaining of the scene. An irrational anger toward Astrid, the one who would help Hiccup and give him a freedom even Toothless couldn't offer, overcame him.

Hiccup's calming touch was the only thing that stopped him from speaking up against the blonde or even worse attacking her, but with it, his depression increased, and he released a sad sigh before slumping down. His best friend sent him a confused and worried look, but even Hiccup couldn't fix this.

Hiccup glances at her as she continues. "Maybe you just don't see it yet," she says before leaning in and kissing his cheek.

A lot of Vikings (and secretly also dragons) awed at the display, but the two teens were too focused on their own thoughts to take note of it.

But neither of them knew Hiccup well enough to figure out the problem, not even Hiccup himself, so before long they were forced to abandon their thoughts and keep watching.

Then she pulls back, disgusted, and wipes Toothless's saliva off her lips.

The important moment was ruined and most people had a good laugh at that. Hiccup tried to hide it, but he too was chuckling – at least she shared his pain!

Despite herself, Astrid had to admit that the scene was kind of humorous, even though it was at her expense.

Khor clapped and the screen went black. No point in teasing them with a cliffhanger, after all. "Well, after this we have a few more short viewings for the future before I send you home. I hope you liked this first scene."

Most people nodded silently. The future sure seemed to be an impressive one.

"The next one is going to happen in three years, more or less," Khor continued after people were done nodding. "Also, I do apologize for this, Snotlout. I actually think you're pretty cool once you stop bragging, but divine decisions cannot be disobeyed."

"What?" the stocky boy explained, suddenly fearful. What was it going to show? Something painful for him? No, more likely something embarrassing. Oh no, would it show his mom's sewing lessons?! Those were very useful but so embarrassing!

The screen turns on to show Ruff and Tuff plotting and mentioning someone 'soulless'.

"I wonder who that might be," Astrid grinned teasingly, recalling Khor's apology.

"Pfft, I don't have a soul, that's a girl thing," Snotlout snorted, ignoring the female population's glares and the male population's facepalms. He wasn't soulless, was it? It couldn't be him…

"You do realize that you just confirmed what Astrid said?" Fishlegs timidly asked, making the Jorgenson blink in confusion.

"Shut up Fishface."

The scene changes to a grinning Snotlout.

Astrid, the twins, Stoick, Gobber and Toothless all snickered while Snotlout sulked. Not that he minded being called 'soulless', it made him sound badass, but whatever the twins had in store for him wouldn't be good.

He's standing outside of a hut on a wooden platform. As the door opens, a sleepy Hiccup is shown before he yawns.

"Hiccup?" Stoick was confused. He didn't recognize the hut nor the area around it. Was that the ocean? He could understand Hiccup might want to get a house of his own but the Chief's house was far from the sea, so why would he be near it? "Where in Thor's name are you?"

"I-I have no idea, Dad," the boy replied, equally confused. He had never thought about moving out. Not that he wanted to live in his father's house forever, but it just had never occurred to him to get his own in the future. Apparently, he had. And what a house! Just by watching the door open, it looked awesome and unique.

Gothi decided that it was about time for her to intervene. She'd been quiet and calm the whole time, especially because her usual interpreter was too far and there was no sand around, but those idiots might never figure out that wasn't even Berk if she didn't tell them. Even though it was obvious.

Before she could get up to walk towards the group of teens, however, the screen continued.

"Hey!" Snotlout aggressively greets the taller boy, who glances at him, confused and suspicious, replying sleepily.

Then Snotlout socks him in the face, making him fall to the ground.

Everyone turned to Snotlout with varying degrees of shock and anger on their faces. Most Vikings and Dragons were simply shocked that he would just punch someone out of the blue, his Heir nonetheless, while Astrid, Stoick, Toothless and Gobber were all ticked by his choice of target.

Hiccup groaned in frustration. "Great. W-What did I even do? Or-or did you just attack me, like… like just for the sake of it?"

"How would I know?" Snotlout then had a candle slowly lighting in his brain as he pointed to the twins. "Wait, they were scheming! I bet it's probably some dumb prank of theirs!"

"And you went along with it?" Astrid asked dangerously. She wasn't one to get angry over some simple act of violence, but considering that Hiccup had seemingly done absolutely nothing to deserve it, and considering that it had been a while since she last hit Snotlout, she felt it was justified.

"How would I know?" the Jorgenson boy repeated, gesturing to the screen. "It's the future!"

"Let's-let's just keep watching for now," Hiccup spoke up, trying to pacify the angry group. Toothless in particular had already forgotten his earlier depression and was glaring daggers at the boy.

Hiccup sits up, gingerly touching his eye, before asking Snotlout why the hell had he done that. Snotlout starts to spew something about calling him out and him having to defend himself before grabbing an axe and swinging it over his head, with Hiccup ducking down under it.

"You attacked him with an axe?!" Toothless roared, furious.

"He-he wasn't really aiming at me… I think…" Hiccup soothed him, rubbing his snout until the dragon calmed down enough to sit down.

'I guess the apology is for having Toothless kill me,' Snotlout thought scared, glancing at Khor, who wasn't even looking in his direction. 'Damn it, why me? Note to self, never go along with the twi- oh come on, they make hilarious pranks! Maybe it'll get better.'

"Son, he just attacked you with an axe, and you think it's okay?" Stoick scolded him, incredulous at his lack of self-preservation.

"I think there's more to it… plus I doubt Khor would've had us watch this just to see Snotlout punching me."

Snotlout then leans in to whisper Hiccup to play along before yelling about a fight to the death.

Stoick, Astrid and Toothless all glared at Snotlout. This time, Fishlegs joined in after a second of hesitation.

"See? It really is their fault!" Snotlout defended himself, pointing at the twins.

The scene changes to the twins observing Barf and Belch flying nearby while they comment on Snotlout's possible demise by human barbecue.

Snotlout looked positively horrified, but Astrid and Toothless relaxed. If the twins had planned for Snotlout to be the one getting hurt, then it was fine. As long as he didn't die, a little pain wouldn't kill him – plus he probably deserved it anyway.

Spitelout was secretly worried, but he shrugged it off. His boy would be just fine. Jorgensons were tough! Perfect Viking material!

Stoick and Hiccup didn't share his confidence, and both were worried Snotlout would end up hurt. Not that Hiccup didn't think he deserved some karma, but not like this and preferably not physically violent.

Scene returns to Snotlout, who slams his axe into a table with a battle cry, breaking a plate, while Hiccup watches him in exasperation and walks off, ignoring him.

"Whoa, did you see Hic there just walk away like nothing happened?" Tuffnut breathed in wonder. "Do you think this happens often?"

"So awesome!" Ruffnut agreed. Especially the part where Snotlout would 'get barbecued'. She was really looking forward to that.

"So not awesome!" Fishlegs countered anxiously. "Hiccup could get seriously hurt if Snotlout keeps swinging that axe around!"

"Gu-gu-guys, I'm right here, okay?" For now, Hiccup didn't say. He really wasn't looking forward to that moment, and judging by the growls, neither were Toothless, Astrid or Stoick. "I-I must admit though… I'm curious about what is going to happen."

Snotlout leaves the axe where it is and flicks the back of Hiccup's head, near his right ear, causing him to yelp in pain and address him out of irritation, telling him that he doesn't want to fight.

Seeing a chance at showing off, now that he'd managed to shift the glares onto the twins for coming up with the idea, Snotlout put on his best charming grin and addressed the room as a whole (Astrid was pretty but there was more than enough Snotman for the others). "Hah, I bet you were too scared to fight me," he mocked his cousin, who just stared blankly back at him. "Not that I can blame you… I'm too awesome for your skinny behind. You were right in refusing the Snotman, for your own good, Hiccup."

"Ugh," Astrid rolled her eyes, and tried to ignore the insufferable moron she'd been stuck with since she was little. She could've easily gone without him and the rest of his group, but noooo, her parents insisted she had to have social interactions with other people her age. She saw Hiccup every other day for axe sharpening, that was enough, no? Apparently not, so she had to bear Snotlout's idiotic bragging for hours every day, hours she could've spent training. Ugh!

Hiccup just turned back to the screen. Not that Snotlout wasn't right, after all – he'd never work up the courage to punch him. Nor did he really want to either, to be honest. Tease him? Sure. But punch him? Physical, personally-delivered violence had never been his style, or he would've started to train with his Dad ages ago instead of going for his weird inventions.

Plus his time with Toothless had taught him that violence is not always the answer. Sure, the Red Death would probably need to be killed either way, since it was just too dangerous to even try to reason with, but otherwise violence didn't really solve any problem. It just postponed them.

He really hoped his future self wouldn't give in and punch Snotlout, because a fight between him and Snotlout? That would end horribly for him.

Snotlout snorts haughtily and calls him out, calling him a coward. Hiccup narrows his eyes, clearly angry.

Hiccup pursued his lips and scowled, tensely rubbing Toothless's head. Why wasn't his dragon there? He could've kept him calm. Why was he even so mad about it? He'd been called that before. He looked closer and could see the fatigue wearing down his future self's eyes. Ah, maybe it was that. He must've been tired and Snotlout's unnecessary presence was just the straw that broke the yak's back.

Stoick growled lowly to himself, shooting a glare at Snotlout but keeping himself from doing or saying anything stupid. Snotlout was still a child, while he was an adult. It wouldn't be fair to blow up at him, no matter how much he might wish for it.

Toothless was being calmed by Hiccup's hand, and unfortunately even then he would've only growled a bit. After all the abuse Hiccup (and in some other way all young Berkians) had gone through, inadvertently as it had been, some very minor name-calling barely angered him.

Astrid was the only one intrigued by future Hiccup's look of offence and anger. Was he really going to fight Snotlout? Sure, he'd grown up a lot (he was already taller than her, if the height difference between him and Snotlout was any indication, and he still wasn't as tall as in five years) but Snotlout was really strong, not to mention he had actual training.

She liked to think that she would've insisted on training with her, but she had no idea if her future self had done that or if Hiccup would even accept. She could easily wipe the floor with Snotlout, but to be honest she could easily wipe the floor with a lot of people.

Hiccup stomps back to Snotlout, who mocks him again and tells him to hit him. Hiccup warns him that he'd asked for it (basically – don't complain later), then winds up his right hand while Snotlout puts on a beatific smile, spreading his arm, and then punches him. The screen cuts off to the twins' very pronounced wince as a whack and a scream ring out in the air.

"Whoa, he really hit him," Fishlegs mumbled, shocked. Not that he didn't believe Hiccup physically capable of punching someone, but he knew the boy wasn't stupid. Punching Snotlout would only result in a humiliating and very quick defeat.

Though the fact Snotlout hadn't even tried to protect himself was also telling… maybe the twins' plan did not involve him fighting for real?

"He did…" Astrid smiled, half smug, half very smug. She hadn't even be the one to do it, and yet for some reason it felt more satisfying, not less. Maybe it was the fact that Snotlout was constantly boasting his head off, but normally she was the only one who'd ever interrupt him, either by mocking him or by hurting him. Seeing Hiccup do her job? That was amazing.

Also, future Hiccup was handsome, but angry future Hiccup was hot. That might've also factored in her reaction.

Stoick was almost shaking with excitement. His son had actually punched someone! Oh, he was so proud of him! It probably hurt Hiccup more than it hurt Snotlout, but it was still a sign that his son might actually become a Viking like him! True, he'd learned that Vikingness wasn't everything, but who didn't want a brawny Viking as a son?

Hiccup himself was torn. He didn't particularly like violence. Oh, sure, he wouldn't lose sleep just because he'd punched Snotlout (to be honest he would probably sleep better because of it), but it just… felt off. Defending himself, that he could understand, even if he sucked at fighting anyway. Had Snotlout kept insulting him at least… Punching him while he just accepted it really wasn't… wasn't like him at all.

He wouldn't hurt someone for past offences. He'd even let Toothless live, after all his 'destroy the village and disappear' stunts! Snotlout just didn't deserve that.

Speaking of the Jorgenson himself, he grimaced. Sure, Hiccup was a twig so it must've just felt like a little tap, but it was still embarrassing. Now he understood why Khor had apologized earlier.

Toothless narrowed his eyes. He didn't like that. Hiccup was fully capable of violence, but not gratuitous violence. As annoying as the boy was being, Hiccup wouldn't have punched him if he'd been any less tired. But most of all he didn't like how most people were commenting and congratulating Hiccup about it.

That wasn't something to congratulate, damn it! Hiccup would probably feel bad later, and he hated when Hiccup felt bad!

Snotlout, back in view, stumbles back with a scream. "Oww! What did you do that for!?" he whines, holding his cheek. "Hold on, I got to-" he raises a finger but he doesn't finish the sentence before he falls on the ground, unconscious.

Everyone's jaws dropped, and Stoick almost squealed out loud.

"Did he just…" Ruffnut trailed off before shouting "knock Snotlout out in one hit?!"

"Even Astrid has trouble doing that with a simple punch!" Tuffnut added. To no one's surprise, the teens seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about Snotlout's past Astrid-related incidents.

Hiccup and Toothless were both staring at the screen, wide-eyed. What in Thor's name…?

Astrid was having a mildly different reaction. Because forget angry Hiccup being hot, angry Hiccup knocking Snot out with a punch was scorching!

Strength wasn't Hiccup's best quality and would never be. He could be Berk's best warrior and it still wouldn't make it within the first twenty things that made him interesting. She liked him (as friends) because he was kind and so sensitive. But punching Snotlout definitely was a nice additional bonus.

She almost whined when she remembered it wouldn't happen for another few years. She wanted to see it now! She wanted to be able to somehow store it and re-watch it over and over again! It was both awesome and hilarious!

Snotlout was staring numbly at the screen, horrified. 'Apology not accepted, jerk!' he mentally yelled to Khor, who was in the back, blending in with the crowd of Vikings.

Gobber chuckled. "Nice swing, lad! Glad to see all that working in the forge paid off!"

The twins are shown watching, astonished, commenting on how unexpected it had been. Tuffnut mentions losing their dragon forever, while Ruffnut tries to cheer him up by mentioning Snotlout's recent injury.

"Lose Barf and Belch?!" Ruffnut exclaimed, ironically nowhere near as calm as her future self looked, and she wasn't even the one going through it.

Khor nodded in the back, still keeping himself out of Snotlout's reach. Not that the boy could bypass the magical protection, but he really felt sorry for embarrassing him and he wanted to stay out of the way. "Nothing serious, Hiccup saved their lives so they were trying to pay him back. Your 'plan' was to convince Barf and Belch to 'save' Hiccup from Snotlout, and it was frankly the least dangerous of your plans to do it. You get them back within a day."

While the twins let out a sigh of relief, Stoick furrowed his brow, wondering how Hiccup would get in enough danger for the Zippleback to 'pay him back' by saving his life. Gobber as well frowned a little. He'd heard that saving a Zippleback was bad omen since the blasted dragon would then keep pestering you until you killed it. He'd even witnessed something similar happening to another villager. Had he misinterpreted that? Had the dragon been trying to pay him back?

Astrid had lost her cheerfulness after Khor revealed the reason behind the attempted 'attack'. She felt a bit bad for the twins – while they hadn't 'bonded' with a dragon yet, it was clear that the twins onscreen were genuinely saddened and hurt by their dragon's absence. It also made her feel ever-so-slightly impressed with Snotlout as well – he had nothing to gain and he'd still helped out, even if it was likely he hadn't even thought about the consequences much before going to 'attack' Hiccup.

Toothless glanced around. While most Vikings were still in perfectly good mood, the teens and the two adults nearby were slightly subdued now. He too felt bad for the twins, though not for Snotlout, and he also felt bad for Barf and Belch (stupid name as it was) because they must've felt really guilty about leaving their riders. But mainly, he was happy people had stopped cheering at Hiccup's moment of weakness – which had resulted in that so-not-Hiccup show of violence.

Back to Hiccup and Snotlout, the heir is trying to gently wake up the Jorgenson, who wakes just long enough to mumble "Mom, Dad, Hiccup punched me… I'm really thirsty" before dropping down again.

Astrid snorted while the twins snickered evilly. Hiccup couldn't stop an amused smile (because that was just hilarious) and even Fishlegs was trying and failing to hide a smile, eyes constantly darting to Snotlout to check his reaction.

The boy himself just hid his face into his hands for a second, gathering his courage, before glaring at the screen. "Stupid future," he muttered to himself. He wasn't that dumb! …Well, not normally, at least. And he could tank way more than a punch from Hiccup! He couldn't have gotten that much stronger, he just wasn't ready and took the hit at a bad angle!

Spitelout frowned. Future Hiccup might've been a little stronger than the current one, but going down like that was just disgraceful.

Even Toothless grinned mischievously. He personally loved watching people do or say dumb things. It was funny. Too bad he couldn't just sit back and enjoy the show all the time… well, maybe now he would get to do exactly that, with the end of the war and all…

Barf and Belch drop a load of fish in front of Hiccup before flying off. The heir glares up at the twins, telling them to go to the clubhouse and get some ice.

"Clubhouse?" Stoick repeated, confused. "There are no clubhouses on Berk. What even is a clubhouse?"

Gothi silently groaned. They still hadn't realized that wasn't Berk. Well, they surely lived up to their island's name… She considered speaking up, or rather scribbling up since she didn't like speaking anyway, but eventually she decided to let them figure it out themselves… if they could. And if they couldn't, she wouldn't lose sleep over their confusion.

"W-Well, a club is a group of people with a shared goal that comes together periodically," Fishlegs shyly butted in, vainly trying to make himself smaller. "Maybe we built some in the future?"

"I don't know, that doesn't look like anywhere we've ever been on Berk," Ruffnut shook her head before scratching it. "Bro?"

"No idea, sis. Complete blank." Not that 'blank' was much different from what was usually on Tuffnut's mind anyway. He then seemed to have a thought and straightened up, suddenly solemn. "Do you think we ran away from Berk and started living on our own on a deserted island, far far away in the middle of the ocean, minding our own business and protecting Berk from afar, silent and unseen guardians of the Archipelago?"

"I seriously doubt that," Astrid immediately shot down the idea.

The scene changes to the interior of the clubhouse, where Hiccup scolds the twins for their harmful behaviour and on how it could've gotten Snotlout actually killed. The twins defend themselves, and poor Snotlout spits out a few teeth knocked loose by the hit.

Stoick pretended he didn't squeak trying to contain his enthusiasm. He knew he shouldn't be cheering for his nephew's injury, especially since lost teeth would never heal, but he was just so happy! His little boy was becoming a Viking and knocking out teeth!

Hiccup, instead, just winced and shot an apologetic look to Snotlout, who ignored it in favour of glaring alternatively at Khor and at the screen. 'I really hope he can forgive me,' the boy thought glumly. Their friendship was still shaky at best, but Hiccup would hate if he were to be the one messing it up. 'Note to self, remember not to punch him, or at least not that hard.'

"Thor's Mighty Hammer?" Fishlegs repeated, frowning. "Isn't that a bit exaggerated? You never cheer that much whenever Astrid punches Snotlout."

"Yeah, but Astrid being violent happens all the time. But this…" Tuffnut gestured grandly to the screen, trying to convey his awe. "This only happens once in a lifetime. It deserves to be remembered for all the generations to come!"

For the first time ever, Stoick was about to agree with the twins.

"Speak for yourself!" protested Snotlout, holding the cheek his future self was holding. "I can almost feel the pain already! Three of my beautiful teeth… My gorgeous face is ruined!"

"It was ruined since the day you were born," Astrid remarked sassily.

"Ah, stop whining, boy," his father scoffed, sighing in defeat. His boy was a disgrace. It hurt him to see him injured, but that was immediately washed away when the boy started whimpering while perfectly healthy about something that hadn't even really happened. Sometimes he wondered if he had too high expectations for him, but then Snotlout pulled acts like these and what was he to think? He obviously had a lot to learn still before he could be an acceptable Viking.

"Hiccup, once we get back to Berk, we're going to start training," Astrid stated, leaving no room for arguments.

Gobber and Stoick exchanged a glance. As if it was that easy. They'd tried so many times already. Why would Hiccup accept now?

"Uh… O-Okay…" Hiccup mumbled, glancing worriedly at the girl and ignoring the disbelief written all over his paternal figures' faces. "B-But… ca-can we wait until w-we end the war?"

"Fair enough."

The Chief and the blacksmith exchanged a second, bewildered, look. What in Thor's name just happened?

"Alright!" Khor spoke up, feeling sorry for the poor not-yet-injured-keyword-being-yet Jorgenson. "Next, we're going to be watching Snotlout be badass!"

Snotlout shot him a shocked but hopeful look -would he really look badass?- while the other teens exchanged glances. Snotlout might've been a good warrior, but how exactly was that going to be shown? The war would be over soon anyway, so who would he be fighting?

The screen opens to a cave where Snotlout and Gustav are walking and talking about Gustav's apprenticeship with Dagur.

"Wait, Dagur, as in, Dagur the Deranged?" Hiccup groaned. "Oh great. Now- Now they're both gonna use me as target practice."

"Dagur did what?!" Stoick thundered, immediately going in mama bear mode. "Why didn't I hear of this?"

"Dad, sometimes you were literally there."

"The most I've seen him do to you was to throw a dagger or two over your head, they never hit you!" Stoick exclaimed. What else had that monstrous boy done while on his island? Oh, the next time he saw Oswald the Agreeable they'd have to agree on a few matters regarding their heirs! "Did he hurt you?"

Hiccup stared flatly at him. "Dad, he- he never hurt me, but that's exactly what target practice is."

"…Oh."

Meanwhile, Gustav was silently cheering. He was taller and right beside his idol! Now, if only his parents could stop cooing over older him, it'd be even better.

Snotlout was instead fuming. Dagur was his role model, he was awesome beyond awesome! And he'd chosen Gustav over him? Oh, come on! He thought this would show him being awesome, not passed over by some twerp!

Gustav mentions being captured and spending lots of time with Dagur.

Gustav suddenly wasn't so happy about the future any more.

"Captured? Also, who is Fanghook?" Astrid wondered. "Why would the Berserker capture a Berkian. We have a peace treaty."

"Yeah, now that we fight dragons, but once we stop fighting dragons, who knows how the Berserkers will react," Gobber remarked wisely. "They might see our new 'friends' as a sign we're building an army to stand up to them!"

"Which would be great, if not for the high risks it implies," Stoick mumbled under his beard before clearing his throat. "Nonetheless, if Gustav is happy about this apprenticeship, then our alliance with the Berserkers must've been restored."

Snotlout turns around and seethingly remarks that spending time with Gustav only leads to murderous intent.

Gustav's parents both glared at the Jorgenson, who just scoffed, unimpressed. He cowered before many things, but random Vikings halfway across the room from him wasn't one.

Besides, his future self was probably right. The twerp looked annoying as Hel.

"That's Snotlout alright…" Fishlegs commented, slightly bitter, before shooting the boy a worried glance. Had he heard him?

Yes, yes he had, but he wasn't bothered by it in the slightest. In fact, he took it as a compliment! It meant that his personality was already so perfect there was no need to change it in the future!

Gustav puts an end to the discussion, to which Snotlout parrots him mockingly, and Gustav comments on him being the annoying one – no, Gustav, no, you're the annoying one, trust me.

"Hey!" Gustav protested at the narrator's voice while most others just snickered.

"Well, then I guess they must be siblings," Hookfang commented to Meatlug, who gave him a disapproving look. "What? I'm bored. At least the Night Fury's friend was more interesting and dragon-like, here we're literally watching two idiots idioting-off at each other."

"Sounds like you and your 'admirer'," Stormfly grinned slyly, referring to the Nightmare who would later be named Fanghook by Gustav himself.

Hookfang groaned and checked his surroundings. Fortunately coming over to the Viking teens meant the Nightmare would stay away. It was good to be appreciate but he was just annoying!

Gustav walks up ahead and stops, admiring in awe the immense cavern in front of him, with a gigantic stalactite of ice in the middle.

"There is something like that inside Berserker Island?" Tuffnut awed with a huge grin. So many caves to explore!

"How do you know it's Berserker Island?" Toothless asked, confused. It could be Berk or any other island, for all they knew.

"Elementary, my dear Toothless. Gustav mentioned an apprenticeship with Dagur, and they don't seem to be in a hurry, so we ruled out Dragon Island and Outcast Island because otherwise they'd be running as fast as they could," Ruffnut explained poshly. "Furthermore, we know all of Berk's caves like the bottom of our feet."

"'Cause we walked all over them, get it?" Tuffnut grinned, much to everyone's chagrin. "No? Not funny?"

'Wrong process, correct result,' Khor chuckled in his head.

Snotlout slyly comments there must be a very dangerous dragon in there, and then scares Gustav, who startles with a yelp and almost falls off while Snotlout laughs.

"Snotlout!" Stoick yelled, astounded that the boy would put Gustav's life in danger over a joke.

"What? I would've grabbed him," the Jorgenson huffed. He wasn't a murderer, and especially not someone who killed his own people. Come on! First soulless, now murderer? What else was he going to be accused of being?

"That's not a-"

"D-Dad, come on, Snotlout wouldn't have let him fall," Hiccup interrupted his father, coming to his cousin's defence. "Let's just go on, okay?"

"Let's go, Gus-stag," Snotlout calls to him while the boy looks down. The Jorgenson is already walking on a thin ledge on the wall, barely able to fit his feet in the available space, looking completely unimpressed with the massive chasm right beneath him.

Astrid hated to admit it, but she was impressed. "Not bad, Snotlout. I didn't think you had that in you."

The boy positively lit up at Astrid's tone, devoid of mocking or belittlement, and almost opened his mouth to brag more before shutting it with an almost audible click. No, better plan, he'd let his future self do even more badass things! "Thanks, Astrid," he replied as nonchalantly as he could.

Hiccup smiled at onscreen Snotlout. He seemed to know what he was doing, which was absolutely great. To be completely honest, the current one wasn't really a responsible person… not yet, anyway.

The two make their way to the other side of the ledge, where it interrupts. Snotlout eyes the distance from there to the small balcony on the other side, and jumps across before urging Gustav to do the same. Scared, the boy tries, almost falls off, and is picked up by Snotlout, who then tells him, exasperated, to get his act together when Gustav grovels at his feet in thanks.

There was a snort, somewhere, probably more than one, at the sight. Snotlout, telling someone else to get a hold of themselves? That was new. But appreciated – at least the boy had grown up.

Gustav himself didn't seem particularly worried or embarrassed. Snotlout had told him not to be afraid since 'they rode dragons'… which meant he too would get a dragon! That was so cool! He hoped he could get a Monstrous Nightmare, like Snotlout, though a Night Fury would definitely be great!

"Nice leadership, Snotlout," Stoick praised the boy, clapping him on the shoulder, his previous annoyance immediately forgotten. The Jorgenson grinned confidently at his words, almost visibly brightening up even further. "It seems that even in the future, you do your family proud with your actions, huh?"

Hiccup hid a wince at his words. He knew his father didn't mean it like that, he always liked praising people for what they did well, be it kids or adults. Maybe in the future he too got more praise? After all, his father did praise him whenever he fixed his sword or repaired something in the house or (more often, to be honest) when he cooked something that didn't kill the both of them. But it would've really felt great to be praised for doing something other than following orders to the letter.

"We're going to be skipping ahead a little bit, alright?" Khor called out as the screen went momentarily black. "Oh, a little background info – Dagur the Deranged has been imprisoned after a rebellion amongst the Berserkers. Don't ask. They're trying to get him out."

"A rebellion?" Hiccup repeated as he, Astrid and Stoick all shared glances.

Gustav and Snotlout are shown in the well, assessing the situation. Gustav is hesitant and Snotlout lectures him.

"I never thought you could be so inspirational, Snotlout," Fishlegs admitted, now very impressed. He'd always thought the boy was made of brawn and bragging. Who knew he could be smart and wise when he needed to?

"I agree, I wasn't expecting that," Astrid added as well, impressed in spite of herself. "So you do have a brain in there."

"Thanks guys, but let's be honest, it's not that shocking," Snotlout bragged and flexed an arm, forgetting his earlier decision to just let his future -and cooler- self earn him attention. "The Snotman is awesome, after all."

And of course Astrid was immediately less impressed.

Snotlout distracts the guards while Gustav tries to get to Dagur, but is instead captured and put into prison, where Dagur is humming. He annoys Dagur, who hums louder and more aggressively to try and tune him out as well as express his frustration.

Snotlout face-palmed. Why had he trusted the idiot with saving the hot-shot of Berserker Island? Dagur was his idol! He should've gone for him instead of 'distracting the guards'!

"Uhh… is it just me, or did that plan fail, like, epically?" Tuffnut commented, unimpressed.

"Yeah, he didn't even get close!" Ruffnut added insult to the injury.

Snotlout then proceeds to trick the guards and throw them into the well while simultaneously stealing the keys from the last one while he was flying past in a shocking show of agility and reflexes.

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Wow…" Tuffnut breathed out in awe. He hadn't expected anyone (but Astrid) to be able to pull off something like that! What had happened to Snotlout in these few years?

Even the boy himself was stunned. When Khor had mentioned him being badass, he thought he meant fighting lots of people, not being all smart and skilled! But if he had to be honest, he was probably receiving even more praise for this, so he wouldn't complain.

"That was great, Snotlout!" Astrid exclaimed, almost in awe (almost) as she kept switching from staring at his future self to staring at him.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that!" Hiccup threw in his own two cents, and for some reason his scrawny cousin's praise mattered too instead of being background noise for his awesomeness.

"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Spitelout cried as he rushed over, grabbing his son and putting him on his shoulder before parading him around the Viking side of the hall. "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!"

"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" the twins immediately joined in, quickly followed by most of the Vikings, some dragons (definitely not Hookfang, and he'd deny that for as long as he lived), and the teens themselves. Hiccup and Astrid shared a look mildly amused, mostly impressed (from Astrid) and proud (from Hiccup) as they clapped and cheered along.

"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Even Stoick and Gobber joined in, and they were known for not exactly being Snotlout's number one and two fans. Stoick had high expectations for him as a dragon killer, but he'd always known he'd be second to Astrid anyway, and the boy was every bit as annoying as his father. For Gobber, he was simply very annoying, and not even all that skilled in training.

Khor would freely admit he joined in as well. Besides, he felt like he owed it to Snotlout, especially considering what the next clip was going to be.

The excitement -greatly fomented by Spitelout to keep it lasting as long as possible- eventually died down a handful of minutes later, and a positively radiant Snotlout practically skipped back to his seat, a megawatt smile printed on his face.

"What's next?" asked a random Viking, the yak-herder Jhonär, as soon as she saw the screen go black and not turn back on.

"Only one of the two moments in the future that had me squealing in happiness," Khor replied nonchalantly, subtly altering the video as to avoid spoilers. After all, he couldn't reveal everything, now could he?

"Squeal in happiness?" Stoick and Gobber exchanged looks. Since when grown men squealed in anything? Plus, Khor was a messenger of the Gods… wasn't he supposed to be level-headed, at the very least?

Then the screen turned on.

Astrid and Hiccup, both twenty-one, stand in front of Gothi, dressed in their ceremonial white clothes.

Silence fell in the hall. Even the dragons knew what this meant.

Hiccup and Astrid both gave a choked sound of shock and embarrassment, glancing frantically at each other before moving on opposite sides of Toothless.

Had Stoick's eyes gotten any wider, there wouldn't have been space for his mouth on his face.

Marriage?!

Hiccup offers his hands. Astrid smiles at him, puts her hands on his, and gives a nod. He smiles back, both radiantly happy. Gothi places a golden cloth on their conjoined hands and lightly taps them with her staff. Immediately, the two lovebirds lean in for a kiss, and after a second, Hiccup frees one of his hands to cup Astrid's cheek.

The hall, for the umpteenth time that day, quite simply exploded.

"WAAAAHHH!" Stoick composed himself before anyone could realize their great Chief had just squealed louder than any dragon could, but fortunately for him and his pride no one had even heard him. Besides, Astrid's parents had squealed just as hard, and Gobber had come close.

As it turned out, Vikings, past or present or future, were huge romantics at heart and adored to watch young love blossom and grow.

Hiccup and Astrid steadfastly avoided looking at each other, both supremely embarrassed. They'd barely gotten to be close-ish friends, they had never even thought about marriage! Well, right, that was not true, but neither of them had actually considered it seriously. It had really just been curiosity.

And now they had to watch their future (much hotter) selves marry in front of the entire village! The teasing would never end.

A tiny part of their brain, that survived the all-consuming embarrassment, actually started to worry. Would this push them apart in the long run? Would they be pushed together too fast and ruin their chances because of too much pressure or whatever?

"The next is also going to be the final one," Khor spoke up again, trying to stop his grin from getting too wide, because he felt bad for the two future lovebirds… but they were just so cuuuuuute!

"F-F-Fin-Final one?" Hiccup stuttered out, glad to have a way out of the situation.

"S-So… w-we're going to be sent back to-to Berk, right?" Astrid asked, slightly stuttering herself from the leftover embarrassment (which was a lot).

Khor shrugged and gestured so-so. "Kinda. But we'll get to that later."

Then the messenger of the Gods turned to address the hall as a whole. "Next one is last one!" he shouted over the noise, and slowly everyone quieted down to look at him. "So! Since this will definitely change the future, I'm not going to show you a clip, but instead I'll show you a picture… basically, like a drawing. A view of the future that instead of-"

"We get it!" someone from the dragon's side yelled.

"So, without further ado… the single most squeal-worthy scene ever," Khor bowed slightly as the screen lit up again.

Now thirty-one, Astrid and Hiccup are on a boat, side by side. Hiccup is holding a green-eyed, blond-haired little boy, while an auburn-haired, blue-eyed little girl is looking over the edge of the boat to see what's ahead.

If the hall had reacted noisily at the last scene, this time there was only complete silence.

For most people, those two adults… were kids. They were kids they'd seen come to this world and grow. And now they were watching them as adults, a future so far no one had even imagined it.

Stoick was the one hit the hardest. 'Grandchildren…' he thought, stunned. 'I'm a grandfather… my son… my little boy… he has children. He's a father…'

He was so happy it hurt.

It hurt because his son had grown up. He'd left the nest and built one of his own. He had a life that didn't revolve about Stoick's family, but his. He wouldn't sit on his knee ever again, nor wait for him to return home from Chiefing all day, nor drive him up the wall with his inventions and his fixation with killing a dragon.

And yet, they were tears of joy those he could not hold back. Because his little boy had grown into a man and spread his wings and flew away. Because Hiccup was now a father, and he knew he was going to be a fantastic one. Because even if he had his own son right beside him, he'd just seen what all parents want for their children – a happy future. An incredibly happy future.

And Stoick couldn't have possibly asked for more.

Hiccup and Astrid were even worse off than before, and both of them were intensely staring at Toothless's scales.

Speaking of Toothless, the only thing on his mind, was how immensely happy he was. Maybe in the future he would end up losing Hiccup, maybe Astrid would eventually 'steal' his brother in all but species, but if Hiccup ended up looking that content with life, then it would be completely worth it. That was a kind of happiness nor he, nor the freedom of the sky, could possibly ever give him.

And who knew, maybe he'd find himself a mate of his own. Hopefully she and Hiccup would get along, because he'd hate to have to choose between them…

Khor smiled as he looked at them, but his smile turned into a little frown when he looked at the other teens.

Ruff and Tuff looked fine… if a little dazed and shocked.

Fishlegs was shocked too and mostly happy for his friends (kind of), though he did have a small crush on Astrid (all the boys did…) and felt a tiny bit bitter about that. But, as his rational brain immediately told him, he'd already known he never had a chance to begin with.

Snotlout had been completely silent ever since the wedding scene. He too had kind of already guessed where this was going, though unlike Fishlegs he'd never given up hope (giving up was for Terrible Terrors, after all), and this had just thrown all of that into his face. He felt like he'd just been slapped with a big, slimy, stinky, wet, cold fish.

He wasn't really surprised, was he? And it wasn't like Astrid was the only girl he hit on, no? Except for Ruffnut and married women and old women, it wasn't like he was picky with who he bragged to, so he shouldn't have been surprised to see Astrid marrying the guy who'd been pining (quite obviously, if he might add) after her and her alone for years. Plus she obviously liked him back.

But still… Snotlout looked down. His jaw ached to move, to express his downtrodden feelings, but he didn't speak. In that future, he'd lost her.

Gathering up his confidence, what little he truly did have, he straightened back up. In that future, Hiccup had beaten him for Astrid's heart. In this one, he'd fight even harder.

Khor looked at him sadly. That was exactly the kind of thinking that spurred him to flirt with Astrid later on. That 'maybe it's not too late'. And perhaps that was also why he also lost Ruffnut to Fishlegs.

But as much as Khor wished to see him happy with someone, that would all depend on Snotlout himself.

With a sigh, the messenger of the Gods stood up and clapped his hands. "Alright. Let's get down to business." 'To defeat the Huns,' his traitorous mind added.

"First off, I'm going to teleport most of you back to Berk. Those who remain have to discuss a couple of things with me. I hope you enjoyed all of this, and you'll see each other soon." In an instant, most of the Vikings and Dragons disappeared from the hall. The remaining few startled despite the previous warning.

Khor looked at those who were left. Hiccup, Astrid, Stoick, Snotlout and Toothless. Some of his favourite beings in that world.

"What did you wish to talk about, Khor?" Stoick asked, eager to return to Berk and start putting together a plan.

"Each of you has a question they can ask me, and I'll answer to the best of my ability, privately," the man replied without preamble. They exchanged glances. What did that mean? Realizing how confusing it must've been for them, he continued, "You are those who will be influenced the most and will change the most. It's only fair for me to answer one single question each, privately, about the future. But please don't take too long. Stoick, you're up first."

Gently taking the much bigger man's arm, Khor led the Chief to the far side of the room, where they would be able to talk without being overheard.

'A question about the future?' Up until four hours prior Stoick, on the verge of returning from the search for the Nest, would've immediately wasted that question for militaristic purposes. Instead, Stoick found himself asking a question he never thought he'd need to ask. "How do I do it? How do I make Hiccup become… that? Happy, free, confident… How do I help my son become who he's meant to be?"

Khor winced. "I could give you the answer, but I believe it would work much better if you find out yourself. A few will suffer from it, but emotionally only and no permanent damage will be done even if you take the hard way. Because discovering it yourself will teach you better than my words ever could."

Stoick nodded. "Then tell me this – is Hiccup happy in the future, and more specifically, is he happy with me?"

Ah. That was an easy question. "He's as happy as he could possibly be, and more," Khor smiled softly. That was the Stoick he admired. "And he loves you more than you will ever know. He looks up to you a lot. And he considers a great man, a great Chief, and an even greater father."

Stoick took a moment to let that sink in before he smiled tightly. "Thank you. I'm afraid words aren't as reassuring as actions, but hearing it from a messenger of the all-knowing Gods is certainly a relief."

Returning the smile, Khor sent him back to Berk, and called Toothless over.

The dragon didn't hesitate. "What is my future family?"

Smart, noted Khor. He was asking two questions and wording it like one. He wanted to know if he was still with Hiccup, and if he ever found a mate. "Your family? Well, you have your brother Hiccup, your sister-in-scales Astrid, your sister-in-scales Stormfly, your mate whose name I will not reveal, and three hatchlings." Khor almost snorted at the look of pure, childish glee that crossed the dragon's snout when he heard the good news. He was almost sad to send him back. Toothless was adorable.

One more to go, and then he would get to the harder questions.

"Astrid!"

As the girl crossed the hall to stand in front of him, with Khor wishing she could go faster so that he could get over with the whole interrogation thing, another thought crossed his mind. 'I really hope this is a good idea and I'm not accidentally messing everything up by giving them more knowledge of the future.'

Astrid took a bit more time than the others to ask her question, and he could understand why. She didn't really have a single question. What would happen to her dream? Was she happy? What did she do? Did she and Hiccup make it work? Were they happy? What were the name of the kids? What would become of her? Would she simply be the Chief's wife or something? She couldn't bear the thought of that. She was far too free and independent to become someone's accessory, even if it were to be the man her future self so clearly loved.

But eventually, there was a way to either find the answer to all those questions or avoid those she didn't like. A single question that would help her find her way. "How do I make my future the best it could be?"

Perhaps it wasn't really fair of her to ask such a general question, but in her defence, she probably would be getting a very general answer as well. She just needed a guideline of some sort.

Khor grinned proudly, as if satisfied with the question. "As expected, a great question! The answer is simple, or at least appears to be. You have to be brave and strong, and you have to trust yourself."

As she expected, a very general answer. And a reassuring one, though it did imply… "Are you saying I'm not-"

"Oh, you are brave and strong. But don't forget that being brave and strong doesn't have to mean being brave and strong alone." Astrid's eyes widened and flickered over to Hiccup, who was talking with Snotlout about a prank the twins had pulled on Silent Sven the previous day. Following her gaze, Khor's grin became a smirk. "Hiccup's your number one supporter, but I didn't mean him alone. Though that's your choice. Whatever flows your river. Goodbye!"

On that cheerful note, he returned her to Berk in an instant before calling out, "Snotlout! Come over!"

"I'll tell you the rest later, you have to hear it, it was like, the best prank ever," Snotlout told Hiccup before jogging across the room to get to Khor.

"Have you thought about your question?"

"Nope."

That was a lie and they both knew it, though Snotlout didn't know that Khor also knew it.

Nevertheless, the boy made a show of thinking about it before finally speaking. "How can I be awesome in the future?"

It made sense that he and Astrid would ask fairly similar questions. Both of them weren't sure of their places in the world any more, and wanted confirmation.

Khor was more than happy to help, even if he would not tell them the specifics. "It's simple, though it's going to be really hard. You have to cherish the people you have and value the relationships you have," his friendship with the Riders, with his dragon, "and don't let the people and relationships that you either can't have or that go wrong, influence you negatively." His father, his relationship with Astrid. "Cherish what you have. Learn from your mistakes. And don't mourn what you don't have, because it's not going to do anything."

Snotlout scratched his head. Admittedly, maybe he'd gone a bit overboard with his general-ness.

"A little extra advice, simply because while funny it is kinda sad to watch you try to woo Astrid and fail every time." Snotlout perked up. Love advice? Not quite. "They say the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expect a different result. If that's true, then you're crazier than the twins. Don't try too hard or you'll just push her away not just as a potential lover -which you already have, plenty- but also as a friend."

Snotlout's face fell, and Khor teleported him away before he could complain. It hurt him to bring him down like that, but most of his pains came from focusing on the wrong things in his life. Like his father or his supposed great love for Astrid. If he could get over them, he'd see himself in a much better light too!

Not to mention, Snotlout was great at appreciating what he had.

Turning to the last Viking in the hall, Khor quickly strode over to Hiccup. "So."

"So…" the boy replied, a tad sheepish.

"What's your question?" Khor inquired with a grin.

Hiccup glanced back at the screen. There were so many questions… and yet, he didn't really want to know the answer to any of them. He preferred to wait and explore and discover them all by himself. So what could he ask?

Well… there was one little thing he could ask… It was a stupid question, a completely stupid question, but hey, he was fourteen-soon-to-be-fifteen, he was allowed to have some weaknesses.

"Astrid does love me? I-In the future, I mean. It… It-It wasn't an arranged marriage, right?"

Khor broke out laughing and brought up a picture of the wedding on the screen, making Hiccup look away in embarrassment. "Oh my… Oh… Hiccup, does that look like a woman who is not completely elated and totally happy with who she is marrying?"

What could he say? He knew it was a stupid question.

"O-Okay, you c-can stop laughing now…" Hiccup awkwardly waited until the messenger of the Gods had gotten his bearings before continuing. "So… see you later?"

Khor rolled his eyes. "More like see you never again. Or well… I will see you, but you won't see me."

There was a flash, and Hiccup was gone. The last view he had of Khor was of him with black glasses, in a black suit, holding up a thin metal stick with a red light on top.

Weird.

Now alone in his hall, Khor smirked mischievously. His job was almost done. After all… who said he couldn't help out a little bit? Not to mention that with the changes that were sure to happen, they kind of needed it.

First, he gave Hiccup a tad more control over dragons. Nothing game-changing, of course, but considering that the village would probably ask to (read: pressure him into) handle the dragons, even the wild ones Khor hadn't brought there, he would probably need it.

Secondly, he put a tiny spell on Hiccup so that, in six years, after convincing his father to move to New Berk (something his father really wasn't happy with, initially), he would not send all the dragons to the Hidden World, but only those freed from the Dragon Hunters.

Because to be honest, the warlords already knew where New Berk was. Even if they sent the dragons away, New Berk would still be attacked for the knowledge about the dragons it held. So there was no point in sending all the dragons away. Not yet, anyway.

His job finally done, Khor sat back and enjoyed the show. Literally.

/- Five Years Later -/

Toothless couldn't see anything past the red haze that filled his vision.

Something bad was happening, but the voice of the Alpha was drowning everything else out. The Alpha's voice wasn't nice and kind like Hiccup's, this Alpha was cruel and harsh, even more so than the Blood Tyrant.

In front of him, there was… someone? He couldn't see…

But the Alpha was telling him to kill them, and he couldn't disobey the Alpha.

Something bigger entered his field of vision, moving quickly towards the first figure.

The gas built up in his mouth and he prepared to fire…

"Dad, no!"

A moment of clarity.

Hiccup and Stoick in front of him.

Stoick pushing Hiccup aside to take the blast.

Toothless bit down on the blast.

The Alpha roared in control.

The blast hit Stoick.

The Alpha and its captor were pleased.

Everything became red again.

"Dad?! Dad!"

"I'm… I'm okay, son. It just grazed me…"

The voices were drowned out by the Alpha's commands, but in the back of his mind, Toothless knew something good had just happened.

/- Ten Years Later-/

Far, far, far away, Khor smiled, looking through the screen to watch New Berk flourish. His smile turned softer and warmer when he saw Stoick, Valka, Hiccup, Astrid, Nuffink, Zephyr and Toothless all play together, with Toothless's hatchlings and his mate.

Stoick never died.

The dragons never left.

He closed his eyes and turned off the screen, casting the hall into darkness. Another adventure was over. But that was life. One adventure ended and another began. For the Haddock-Hofferson family, one important chapter of their lives had ended and would never come back, but another -perhaps an even brighter one- had taken its place.

Khor slowly got up and headed out of the room. His adventure was just starting, too. One that perhaps didn't have as much breath-taking action and drama as the Dragon Riders', but one he'd gladly embark on.

He stopped by the door, looking back one last time with longing. That adventure had been one hell of a ride, but it was time to move on. Besides, he'd already taught them what he wanted to teach them.

He smiled and walked out, closing the door behind him. The hall faded out of existence, but the memories made inside it remained, and one amongst them stood out the most.

"Who said the future can't be changed for the better?"

Before I say my goodbyes, I'd like to explain a few details here.

First off, Stoick's and Hiccup's reactions to the Chief thing – this is still in movie 1, where Hiccup wanted to be like his father, and Stoick has just barely begun to trust his son with some responsibilities, so it makes sense for them to react differently from their future selves.

Second, Toothless and the apparent problem of future Hiccup's. First off, Hiccup doesn't seem to have problems being Chief once he tries, and in RTTE he is 'Chief' of Dragon's Edge with no problems, and deep down it does make sense for the issue to be related to Berk. He may love his people, but that doesn't mean he's not afraid of settling down.

And Toothless? This is fresh-out-of-the-war Toothless. His bond with Hiccup is really strong, but not as strong as it is in the future. So he is afraid of being forced apart by being on the ground.

Also, I know people usually have everyone be surprised by the looks of future Hiccup (and Hiccup be surprised by future Astrid) but honestly the looks are the smallest change for them. Hiccup's new built, his suit and his personality are all more painfully obvious, as well as Astrid's personality. I did mention their looks, but as I said it's not that big of a deal.

As for Stoick's hope for Hiccup to 'bulk up' in time for the Chiefly portrait, well in the show it took Hiccup getting in deadly danger for him to realise he'd messed up, so now he still hasn't learned.

Let's not forget the angst from Snotlout near the beginning! Personally, Snotlout is one of my favourite characters. He went from beloved warrior to the butt of most jokes and the village clown, and he took it in stride. Sure, like Hiccup he too tries to 'redeem his image' and sometimes he does exactly that (Not Lout, RTTE S4 Ep4, will forever remain one of my favourite episodes, because it just adds SO much to Snotlout's character), but otherwise he doesn't seem to really mind the teasing and the ribbing.

Part of that is also because he gained other things. He gained Hookfang, he gained more freedom, he gained a peaceful life… there were perks. Not to mention that once he stops bragging, he's actually taken seriously by the others.

But this Snotlout? No, this Snotlout doesn't know that. He's just seeing a future where he… just doesn't have a place in. Or so he thinks. And he accepts that, even if it hurts, not JUST because Hiccup 'deserves it', but mostly because he puts others before himself and accepts that if losing his status will make the lives of everyone else better, then he will do it. He is still kind of dim-witted so he doesn't think about how to make a place for himself in the future, just what he could do with what he currently has, but still the feeling is there.

This is why Snotlout is my third favourite human character in RTTE, and fourth favourite of all races (Toothless can't not be first). I know others prefer Heather or Dagur or others, but personally Snotlout is awesome. He's just also a narcissist moron.

And now…

It's over!

I want to thank you, every single one of you, for all the reviews, positive and negative, all the Favourites, all the Follows, for everything down to the last view. I may have written this, but without your support… I'm not sure I would've been able to get this far.

I may be the writer, but you guys made this possible. So thank you! Today, you've helped create a story! A story that, I hope, many will enjoy. Now and in the future.

I'll be honest – I didn't think I'd be able to go this far. I mean, I was fairly certain I'd get to the end of the movie, but I didn't think I'd be able to write this much, with this many reactions. I didn't think I would've been able to keep the quality of the story top-notch but, as you guys have told me time and again in the reviews (thanks again!), I succeeded, partly thanks to your continued support.

I also want to apologize to those whose 'future scene clips' weren't shown, but this chapter is almost 20k words and I don't want to risk going over FFN's wordcount limit per chapter. Also, it was taking too long, and I was starting to mentally tire myself out.

This monster chapter is over 30 A4 pages long in LibreOffice Writer. 30 of the 276 of the total story, which means this chapter alone is 1/9 of this entire story. Wow.

I think I'm delaying the inevitable.

Yeah, I've gotten really attached to this story.

Sometimes tells me you guys have too.

Well, can't stall forever.

It has been one hell of a ride. Thank you, all of you, for today. For everything.

Until next story,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh