A/N: The twins are the best things that ever happened to me.

Have fun reading!

(The image shifts to Gobber and the recruits seated at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, toasting campfire food around a roaring bonfire.)

Gobber: "...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face. I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."

(oohs and ahs from the recruits)

"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed quietly, remembering that evening by the campfire. "You know I thought you seemed off," she whispered accusingly at Hiccup. "Even for you."

Hiccup shrugged and gave her a small smile.

Fishlegs: "Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon. Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something."

"Boy, Hiccup," Fishlegs commented, noticing the on-screen Hiccup's facial expression. "Your head was really somewhere else during this campfire, wasn't it?"

"Oh yeah," Tuff agreed. "That is the face of a boy who is completely gone from the universe. Living deep within himself, unaware of any activity in the present world, swallowed by the merciless tortures of memories – !"

The others had turned to look at him quizzically, eyebrows raised in question.

"Too much?" he asked.

"I kinda liked it," Ruff admitted.

Snotlout: "I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face."

"Snotlout, that doesn't even make sense," Fishlegs said. "How can you chop anything with your face?"

"Hey it sounded seriously cool at the time," Snotlout defended himself.

"It does sound cool," Tuff agreed. "I'm gonna steal it."

Gobber: (with a mouthful) "Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

(ON HICCUP hiding his horrified look from the others.)

"I'm guessing that's how you got the tail idea," Astrid smirked at Hiccup.

"It's always a good idea to listen to Gobber," Hiccup said. "You never know when he may say something really helpful."

(Gobber stands and stretches.)

Gobber: "Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?"

Hookfang gave an annoyed snort from behind Snotlout.

(Hiccup is shown disappearing down the stairs. Astrid watches him leave the bonfire)

Tuffnut: "It's gonna be me. It's my destiny. See?"

(Tuffnut rolls up his sleeve to reveal a red dragon on his arm.)

Fishlegs: (gasps) "Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

"You chose the wrong tattoo, bro," Ruffnut said to her brother, pointing at their Zippleback behind them.

"It's not a tattoo!" He insisted.

Tuffnut: "It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."

Ruffnut: "Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."

Tuffnut: "Yes it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now."

"Yak dung," Ruffnut muttered.

(The image shifts and Hiccup enters a small room at the back of the stall. It's covered in drawings of weaponry and scale models. He lights a candle and lays his sketchbook out on the desk, opening it to the drawing of Toothless. With a look of determination. Hiccup picks up a charcoal stick and re-draws the missing tail.)

Toothless gargled excitedly again, happy that the on-screen Hiccup was working on making his tail.

(CLOSE ON a creaking leather bellows. The stone forge glows with every pump. Tongs pull intricate iron pieces from the coals. They're dropped onto the anvil, twisted, lightly hammered, and dunked in a barrel. The pieces are carried to Hiccup's workbench and laid out in place on a one-to-one schematic. It's a sketch of a mechanical fin. Hiccup puts the pieces together, and then opens a finished leather tail fin. Satisfied, he nods and closes the fin, ready for the next day.)

Toothless playfully held up his tail to look at the red prosthetic he now wore, comparing it to the one on the screen. He smiled happily at Hiccup and stuck out his tongue.

(The image opens on the hidden cove. Hiccup arrives carrying the tail fin and straining under the weight of a full basket. Toothless approaches, sniffing him.)

Hiccup: "Hey Toothless. I brought breakfast. I hope – I hope you're hungry."

(Hiccup drops the basket and kicks it over. Fish spill out.)

"Oh no," Fishlegs said, noticing that one of the fish looked suspiciously stripy. "Is that an eel?!"

"Oh that is not good," Snotlout chuckled.

"How do you think I learned it?" Hiccup grinned.

"Someone had to learn the hard way," Astrid laughed.

Hiccup: "Okay, that's disgusting."

(Toothless approaches, settling in to devour the feast.)

Hiccup: "Uh… we've got some salmon... some nice Icelandic cod... and a whole smoked eel."

(Toothless recedes from the eel, sensing danger. Hiccup picks it up from the ground and holds it out to the dragon. Toothless roars in fear and backs away like he has been seriously threatened.)

All the dragons in the audience blanch at the eel as well. Several of the young Vikings snickered.

"It is extremely gratifying to see Hiccup acting so clueless about dragons," Snotlout commented.

Astrid smacked him.

Hiccup: "No, no, no! Okay." (he throws the eel away and eases the dragon.) "Yeah, I don't like eel much either."

(Toothless focuses on the remainder and starts gulping down fish. With the dragon distracted, Hiccup unwraps his prosthetic fin and opens it like a fan.)

Hiccup: "Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business…"

(Hiccup cautiously approaches the injured tail, but every time he gets near it, Toothless automatically sweeps it away like a cat.)

Hiccup: It's okay –

(Hiccup grabs the tail with his hand. Toothless' head juts forward as he looks for more fish in the empty basket, causing Hiccup to lurch forward as well. He turns around and straddles the tail)

Hiccup: Okay...okay…

(The dragon tenses, the empty basket dropping from his head. He wiggles his working tail fin questioningly. When he realizes that Hiccup is fixing his tail, his wings drop to the ground in shock)

Astrid laughed. "Wow he was really surprised!" She said. "You weren't expecting Hiccup to be so kind, were you?" She patted Toothless on the head. The dragon responded affirmatively.

(Toothless slowly spreads his wings. Hiccup straps the prosthetic fin in place and cinches the straps.)

"Ohhh no!" Snotlout grinned. "This is gonna be good!"

Hiccup: "There. Not too bad… It works…."

(Toothless BOLTS! He snaps his massive wings and takes to the air, carrying Hiccup with him. Hiccup screams.)

Hiccup: "Woah! No! No! No!"

Everyone in the audience laughed.

"Well that's one way to ride a dragon!" Tuffnut said.

"We should totally try that some time," Ruffnut replied.

"Barf! Belch! What do you think?"

The Zippleback gassed and then sparked, setting an explosion over the twins' heads.

(Hiccup struggles to hold on to the tail. As the ground speeds away, Toothless immediately TIPS into an uncontrolled bank and dives. Hiccup sees the folded fin rattling uselessly in opposition to its flared counterpart. Flap as he may, Toothless can't correct his trajectory.)

(Hiccup reaches for the folded prosthetic and YANKS it open. The flared, fan-like appendage catches the air, stabilizing the twisting tail.)

Hiccup: "It's working!"

(Toothless arcs just short of the water and climbs... high into the air.)

Hiccup: "Yes! Yes, I did it!"

(The dragon glances back at Hiccup, busily holding the tail open while trying to hold on. Whoomp! Toothless throws Hiccup from his tail)

Hiccup: "AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

(He bounces across the water's surface and takes a dive. Without Hiccup to operate the tail, Toothless does the same, plunging in a massive cannonball. Hiccup resurfaces, roughed up, but beaming. Toothless appears seconds later.)

Hiccup: "Yeah!" (he leaps up in the water, two fist pumps in the air)

"That is pretty amazing, Hiccup," Astrid said, "that you came up with that tail fin entirely on your own. Toothless is incredibly lucky that you found him."

"Thanks," Hiccup replied, blushing at the compliment.

Gobber: "Today is about teamwork."

(ON A DOUBLE-WIDE DOOR. Gas seeps through the cracks. It BLASTS OPEN. A cloud of smoke engulfs the ring, swirling around the paired-up teens. Astrid with Ruffnut. Snotlout with Tuffnut. Fishlegs with Hiccup. All carry buckets of water, poised to throw them.)

"Alright! Zippleback baby!" Tuffnut exclaimed. He high fived his sister.

Gobber: "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

"Easy," Ruffnut said. "I ride Barf, Tuffnut rides Belch. Duh!"

The twins high five again.

(The smoke encircles the teens, cutting them off from each other. The teens LISTEN and WATCH for any sign of the dragon.)

Fishlegs: "Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its – "

Hiccup: "Will you please stop that?"

(ON SNOTLOUT AND TUFFNUT Moving nervously through the fog, back to back.)

Snotlout: "If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna—" (spotting an approaching shape, terrified) "-There!"

(Snotlout and Tuffnut HURL their water into the fog.)

Astrid: "Hey!"

Ruffnut: "It's us, idiots."

"This was so ridiculous, you guys," Astrid rolled her eyes. "We look so bad out there in the ring!"

Tuffnut: "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."

Snotlout: "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figu-"

(Astrid PUNCHES Snotlout in the face. Ruffnut THROWS her water bucket at Tuffnut, knocking him to the ground. Tuffnut is snatched back into the fog, presumably by the Zippleback)

"Okay which one of you did that?!" Tuff pointed to Barf and Belch. "Belch? It was you wasn't it. You just had to claim your rider early, didn't you?" He glared at the dragon head, and Belch just cackled.

Astrid: "Wait."

(They FREEZE. A tail SWEEPS out of the fog, taking them down. Their buckets spill.)

"Masters of Stealth," Ruffnut said proudly.

Tuffnut: (comes running out of the fog holding his face) "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

"You were not hurt," Ruffnut shoved her brother.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" He shoved her back.

They wrestled back and forth in their seats.

Fishlegs: "Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..."

(A Zippleback head emerges out of the smoke.)

"Barf!" Ruffnut cheered.

(Fishlegs hurls his water at it, completely dousing the head. It leers and opens its mouth, spewing gas into the area.)

Fishlegs: "Oh. Wrong head."

(GAS FLOWS around their legs. Fishlegs flees in a panic.)

Gobber: "Fishlegs!"

(Beat. A clicking sound comes from behind them. Two dragon heads appear out of the smoke in front of Hiccup, one letting out sparks from its mouth)

Gobber: "Now, Hiccup!"

(Hiccup hurls his water with all his might. It arcs and drops short of the dragon's sparking mouth. The dragon grins, savoring the kill.)

Hiccup: "Oh, come on!"

"Seriously, Hiccup," Tuffnut said. "You never look scared right before a dragon is going to attack you."

Gobber: "Hiccup!"

(Beat. The Zippleback hesitates. SNIFFS. Then retreats. The teens get to their feet, watching transfixed. Gobber peeks through his fingers to see The Zippleback backing away from Hiccup. He stands and holds his hands out, as if controlling it.)

Hiccup: "BACK! BACK! BACK! Now don't you make me tell you again!"

(The Zippleback retreats through its door and into its cave, hissing.)

"Oh you used the eel!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

"We were so confused," Astrid laughed.

"Yep," Tuff said. "That is definitely a Barf-and-Belch eel reaction right there."

"Scared out of their minds," Ruffnut laughed.

Hiccup: "Yes, that's right. Back into your cage."

(Hiccup slyly OPENS his vest, revealing the spotted smoked EEL from earlier. He TOSSES it inside the door)

"Awesome," Ruffnut grinned.

"What a wuss," Snotlout agreed.

Hiccup: "Now think about what you've done."

(He SLAMS the door shut. Hiccup turns to the teens and Gobber. They stare, slack-jawed)

The young Vikings all laughed at their own reactions on-screen.

"Tuff! Look at your face!" Snotlout cackled.

"So confused," Ruffnut agreed.

"You knocked Astrid speechless, Hiccup!"

Hiccup: "Okay! So are we done? Because I've got some things I need to... (Hiccup jogs out of the ring, past the speechless group.) Yep...see – see you tomorrow!"

Snotlout laughed and leaned back, his hands behind his head. "This is so much fun," he said. "Hiccup, how did you manage to keep a straight face through any of this?"

"I know," Fishlegs agreed. "The irony is unparalleled."

"Now it is," Hiccup said. "But at the time it was a whole lot more frightening. I was terrified someone would find Toothless and do something to hurt him. I had to be really careful because I didn't want people to be asking lots of questions."

"Oh yeah that worked out really well," Snotlout said sardonically. "That way we could all be completely surprised during the disaster that was your final exam."

"Hey lets not go there yet!" Astrid interrupted. "We're doing this chronologically. Let's keep going with the moving images!"

A/N: Please please please review!