How to View Your Dragons Chapter 11

As the dragons looked on, the fleet of Viking longships made their way into the dense fog that always surrounded their island nest.

Gobber was tripping over his words as he tried to ask Stoick what their plan was, without making it sound like he was curious himself. "Find the nest and take it," was all Stoick said.

"Yeah, right!" Sizzle scoffed. "And what was the plan if we didn't want him to find the nest and take it?"

Hookfang shifted his position. "Stoick never cared what anyone else wanted, did he? He was so set on this course of action, he'd thrown his own son aside to get there. Nothing was going to stop him - not dragons, not fog, not his own family, nothing!"

"Those stubbornness issues again?" Barf wondered.

"Stubbornness with a vengeance," the Nightmare nodded.

Suddenly, on the flat panel, Toothless' head, which had been bowed in despair, shot bolt-upright, ears erect. He sniffed, listened, and turned to the right. Stoick made his way aft, brusquely ordered the steersman to step aside, and leaned into the rudder, turning his ship to the right. After a few seconds, Toothless faced left; the Viking chief followed his movements, and all the other ships in the fleet followed them.

"Something about this doesn't make sense," Stormfly thought out loud. "Toothless, if you were homing in on the sounds of the dragons in the nest, then that sound wouldn't have shifted from side to side, would it? I mean, I lived in that nest for years before the Vikings captured me, and I don't remember the nest moving once in all that time. What were you tracking?"

"You're right, up to a point," Toothless nodded. "The sounds from the nest wouldn't move at all. But remember how sensitive my ears are? I wasn't tracking the sounds straight from the nest; I was tracking them as they were reflected off the rocks that we were sailing through. As we made our way through that maze of sea stacks, the reflections and the echoes did change their direction, depending on where we were."

"And you willingly led them through the maze, straight to our nest?" Belch demanded.

"I didn't know that's what I was doing," the black dragon answered him. "Stoick was behind me, and the wooden collar and the chains kept me from looking back. I had no idea that he was using me that way. I was just listening for familiar voices, and hoping that those ignorant Vikings wouldn't ram any sharp rocks and sink themselves, and me along with them."

Before anything else happened, the scene changed again. Hiccup was staring up at one of the dragon-cell doors in the training ring. He had just left that ring a few hours ago in disgrace. That time, the plan was for him to prove himself a true Viking. Now he made no pretense of being a Viking; he carried no weapon or shield, and he wore no helmet.

Suddenly, he heard an almost-threatening voice. "If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." It was Fishlegs, accompanied by the other teens, all looking tough and warlike.

"Fishlegs, where did you get that silly idea?" Meatlug asked his image on the screen. "I don't eat Vikings! Not even for snacks! I had the perfect chance to bite Hiccup's head off, the first time I met him, but I didn't even try."

"You tried to fireball him," Hookfang reminded her.

"Just because I tried to cook him doesn't mean I wanted to eat him," she shot back.

Hiccup gazed back at the other teens, suddenly less confident. What new torment were they planning at his expense? Then Tuffnut stepped forward, flexing his fingers. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon. It's me."

Snotlout pushed the thinner boy aside. "I love this plan!" he smiled.

Hiccup tried to remind him that he hadn't said anything about a plan yet, but now it was Ruffnut's turn. "You're crazy!" she burst out. Then she turned seductive. "I like that."

Astrid chose that moment to grab Ruff's helmet horn and pull her aside. "So? What is the plan?"

"Why is Hiccup smiling all of a sudden?" Hookfang wondered.

"Maybe it's because he just realized that the other young humans aren't trying to abuse him," Stormfly reasoned. "Just for a change."

"No, that's only part of it," Meatlug corrected her. "I think the main reason he's smiling is because, for the first time ever, they're all looking up to him as their leader. They want to follow his plan. In their eyes, he's gone from zero to hero!"

"But he hasn't even told them what he's going to do!" Belch exclaimed. "Why are they following him when they don't know where he's going?"

Toothless answered that one. "He's the only one with any plan at all, even if he hasn't explained it yet. Astrid has confidence in him, and the others just want something cool and Viking-like to do. They all think they're dragon fighters, but they were left behind when the rest of the village sailed away to fight the dragons. Now Hiccup is going to find some kind of action with dragons involved, and they all want a piece of that action."

Hookfang was chuckling deeply, letting out little puffs of smoke through his nostrils. "What's so funny?" Sizzle demanded.

"I think I know what's about to happen," the much bigger dragon said. "My rider said he loved Hiccup's plan? He didn't love it so much when he saw what it meant, up close and personal!"

"So... what was the plan?" the Terror asked.

This time, it was Stormfly who said, "Watch and see."

The scene shifted back to the Viking fleet in the fog. They passed under the shattered remains of one of their ships from a previous raid, which was balanced on a rock. "How did that thing wind up there?" Meatlug asked. "Viking ships can't fly, even if they do have dragons for figureheads."

"I think that was my cousin Wavebatter's handiwork," Hookfang answered. "He always said he'd love to turn a Viking ship into an abstract sculpture if he ever got the chance."

"Would you have done that, if you had ever gotten the chance?" Stormfly asked him.

"No," the Nightmare said dismissively. "I never cared for that artsy stuff. Just watching the ships burn was fun enough for me. That, and watching the Vikings diving into the sea in all directions to get away from the flames."

"Did you enjoy knowing that some of them might have drowned?" Meatlug queried him.

"Actually, I never thought about that," Hookfang said. "When I was fighting against ships, then the ships were all that mattered. When I was up against individual Vikings on land, then I focused on the individuals. But I very much prefer to fight one enemy at a time. It keeps life simple."

The chittering and calling of the dragons was getting louder. Suddenly, land loomed up ahead; the ships grounded themselves and Stoick grinned, "We're here!"

"Is there a scary part coming?" Sizzle asked nervously.

"Not yet," Meatlug reassured him.

Back to the training ring. Sizzle relaxed. "Another scene change? This is getting distracting."

"I think you'll like this scene, though," Meatlug assured him, and Stormfly nodded. As the other teens looked on in amazement, Hiccup tried again to do what he'd started hours ago - he led Hookfang across the ring with one outstretched hand.

"Question," Stormfly said. "Why were you letting Hiccup do that when, the last time he did it, you thought it was a trick so they could kill you?"

"Paws. I had some time to think things over while I was in my cell again," Hookfang began. "I realized that the Vikings attacked Toothless the same way they once attacked me, and they jailed him the same way they jailed me. That meant that Toothless wasn't on their side. And if Toothless was protecting Hiccup, then that meant Hiccup wasn't on their side, either. Now that I understand his words when he said, 'I'm not one of them,' I know I was right. I played back the morning's events in my head, and I realized that Hiccup hadn't done anything threatening or harmful. He'd been totally peaceful and friendly; he showed me respect without trying to dominate me or beat me up. It was that noise from behind me that ruined everything, and Hiccup didn't make that noise. Maybe he really was different from all the other Vikings! When I heard his voice outside my cell and heard the doors start to open, I decided to give him another chance. It helped that I couldn't hear any other Vikings screaming for my head, just Hiccup's voice."

"That makes sense," Stormfly nodded.

"I thought of something else, too," the Nightmare went on. "When I attacked Hiccup, the other Vikings just watched. But when Toothless entered the ring, they swarmed him and beat him up. That told me that they cared more about killing a Night Fury than they did about saving Hiccup's life. Meatlug, you talked about him going from zero to hero in the teens' eyes? In the ring, when he'd started the day as their new champion, he went from hero to zero! And it was all because he was nice to me."

"So you decided to be nice to him in return?" Meatlug asked.

"I decided I'd give him a chance, and see what happened," Hookfang said. "I was not relaxed; my guard was up and I was ready for anything. I never took my eyes off him for a moment."

"That was fortunate," Stormfly said. "If you'd been looking around, you might have seen your rider get really nervous, pick up a broken spearhead, and prepare to use it like a knife. That might have ruined your peaceful little scene."

"He did that?" Hookfang was surprised. "You're right - I didn't see that, and it would have changed everything! Uhh, what changed my rider's mind?"

"Stormfly's rider did," Meatlug replied. "Watch and see. Play!" They watched as Astrid swatted Snotlout on the arm and said, "Uh-uh," and he dropped the spearhead. Meatlug went on, "Maybe she wasn't the dragon-killing heroine that she once wanted to be, but she still commanded a lot of respect among the other teens. They did what she told them to do."

"Why didn't Hiccup say something when Snotlout grabbed a weapon?" Toothless wondered.

"His back was to the other teens," Stormfly explained. "He was as focused on Hookfang as Hookfang was on Hiccup. He didn't see that little scene, either."

Hiccup backed up, with Hookfang moving with him, until he stood next to Snotlout. He took Snotlout's hand and moved it toward the dragon's nose. Snotlout looked fearful again. "Wh- what are you doing?"

"It's okay," Hiccup said soothingly. "It's okay."

"Ha-ha-hah!" Hookfang broke up laughing. "That's exactly what he said to me in the ring the first time!" he snorted. "And he used the exact same tone of voice. He wasn't just training us dragons - he was training the humans, too!"

"That's my Hiccup," Toothless said approvingly.

Hiccup laid Snotlout's hand on Hookfang's nose and withdrew his own hand. Snotlout stared into the dragon's eyes in disbelief - the Monstrous Nightmare wasn't attacking him! After a moment, the dragon's growl dropped to a basso purr, and his eyes took on a kindly look. Snotlout laughed in nervous amazement.

"I guess that means you liked him?" Sizzle asked.

Meatlug also had a question. "Was it love at first sight, like with Toothless and Hiccup?"

"It wasn't love," Hookfang replied. " 'Respect' would be a better word. I could tell he was strong enough to be a threat, but he chose not to be threatening. I can work with someone like that. I was willing to give him a chance. I'd already declared peace with one human; why not try it with another one? I had no idea what it all meant, but at least it was less painful than fighting them and getting hit in the head all the time."

Then Hiccup stepped aside and found some rope in a box of weapons. "You're going to need something to help you hold on." Then they saw Meatlug, Stormfly, and Barf and Belch standing in a group nearby, closely watching the whole scene.

"How did you guys get loose?" Toothless asked them.

"Hiccup let us out, one at a time," Meatlug told him. "He let me out first. I can't ask him why. Maybe he thought I would be the least dangerous because there weren't any rocks in the ring, so I couldn't make fire."

"I can think of a better reason," Stormfly said. "He probably let you out first because his friend Fishlegs said you'd eat him, and he wanted to show everyone that Fishlegs' ideas about dragons were outdated now. He, Hiccup, had found a new way of relating to us that didn't involve teeth, claws, or sharp objects, and they all had to see that things had changed."

"That makes sense," Toothless nodded. "That's definitely something that Hiccup would do. So... what were you all thinking while you were waiting for the others to be released?"

Meatlug spoke first. "Paws. I was just glad to get out of that hole! Before he opened the door, I recognized his voice. He was the one who fought me with crazy grass and the D-spot rub instead of with axes and hammers. I assumed that he probably wouldn't hurt me. Then he opened the door, and he and his friends were just standing there! They made no hostile moves; they didn't seem to have any weapons or shields, even though they kept their helmets on. I had no idea what was going to happen. Then he backed off, so I went forward; I didn't get too close, but I wasn't keeping my distance, either. When he stopped, I stopped; then he made that 'it's okay' sound, so I went a little closer. He rubbed my nose horn, but didn't go for the 'D' spot. He seemed totally friendly! So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I looked around for a way out, but the gates were still closed. Still, it was the first chance I'd had in I-don't-know-how-long to just stand there in the sun and breathe without fighting for my life. So I stood there and breathed. After a few seconds, he turned away from me and opened Stormfly's doors."

"That should have told you something right there," Toothless cut in. "If he was willing to turn his back on you, that shows that he trusted you."

"True," the Gronckle nodded. "I'm not sure what I did to deserve that kind of trust. All I ever did was try to kill him."

"He was brave enough to make the first move," Toothless noted. "You were sensible enough to follow his lead. Everything else followed after that."

"I was next," Stormfly took up the tale. "Like Meatlug said, I recognized his voice before he opened the doors, and I wasn't expecting spears and swords. Exactly what I was expecting, I'm not sure, but I was so glad to get out of that cell, I didn't care. I admit, I threw those doors open so fast, I almost sent Hiccup flying. I don't think I missed him by much! And he just stood there with his hand outstretched, saying that 'It's okay' thing of his... and he didn't attack. The other humans didn't attack, either. What did it mean? Either it was an elaborate trick, or something had changed between us and the humans, and the Vikings never came up with elaborate tricks like that before. Not only that, but I saw Meatlug just standing there, enjoying a little freedom and not being attacked by anybody. I knew that she'd never willingly take part in any Viking trick, so that meant that there was no trick. The Viking boy really meant to be peaceful. Or, at least, that was how things looked on the surface.

"Like Meatlug, I looked to see if the gates were open. But we weren't free to leave. I had no idea what was going on here! I figured that there's strength in numbers, so if it really was a trick, then I'd fight better with Meatlug beside me. So I walked over next to her, and the humans didn't stop me. It was the first time in years that I'd seen another dragon's face. We talked and tried to figure out what these Vikings were doing, and while we did that, Hiccup let the Zippleback out."

Belch began, "As soon as we -"

"No, let me tell it!" Barf interrupted. "The doors opened, but we didn't hear the voice of the one-armed, one-legged dragon-hating sadist, so we weren't expecting another mock-battle with young Vikings. Those young Vikings were there, but they had no weapons and they didn't attack us, so we -"

"I'll take it from here," Belch cut him off. "We got ready to blast them, until we saw Stormfly and Meatlug just standing there, talking, like it was no big deal for dragons to share a kill ring with Vikings who weren't trying to kill us. So I asked them, 'What's going on here?' They said, 'We have no idea, but it's better than the way things used to be, so we're not going to start any trouble.' So Barf held his gas and we just watched to see what would happen next. That's when Hiccup opened the doors and let Hookfang out."

"Hey!" Sizzle exclaimed. "How come he didn't let me out?"

"I think I know, little fellow," Toothless said. "His plan was for him and all his friends to ride dragons and try to save his tribe, and you're too small to ride."

The Terror was not mollified. "It still would have been nice if he'd let me out. I hated being in prison as much as the bigger dragons did!"

"Maybe he just didn't have time to let you out," Stormfly suggested. "After all, he was trying to save his people from the Queen, and he knew he had to hurry before the Vikings and the Queen started mixing it up. He had to teach his friends how to ride dragons when they'd never done it before, and he had to get the idea across to us that the humans were going to ride us. That was some trick in itself, seeing how we didn't speak the same language! He used some hand gestures and he was very patient with us."

"I think Stormfly got the idea first," Meatlug added. "She bent down, Hiccup climbed up onto her neck, and she didn't buck him off. She looked back at him for a second, and then she said, 'I think he wants his friends to ride you guys, too.' They sorted themselves out pretty quickly. The skinny ones who do everything together teamed up on Barf and Belch, the muscular one was already drawn to Hookfang, Fishlegs and I came to an understanding pretty quickly, and the other girl got onto Stormfly, right behind Hiccup. Then Hiccup got down, opened the gates, and got back on Stormfly just before she ran for freedom and spread her wings.

"We were free! Hiccup had set us free, with no conditions except that he and his friends went with us. Just the feeling of spreading our wings and flying, without a wall in front of our faces and bars over our heads, was amazing! The weight of the Vikings on our backs wasn't much, and we got used to it pretty quickly."

"Before the Vikings caught us," Barf added, "we took flying for granted. It was how we got from place to place; it didn't mean anything. Once they caught us and imprisoned us, we couldn't fly at all anymore; we were too big to get off the ground in that little training ring. I remember Belch saying to me once, 'If we ever get out of here, I will never take flying for granted again.' 'Me, neither,' I said, and we both meant it. Those first few seconds of freedom in the air... they were amazing! And the feeling didn't wear off as we flew."

Belch nodded. "Toothless, I think we understand how it felt for you to fly with Hiccup after he fixed your tail. Maybe our riders aren't as selfless as yours, but they gave us our freedom, and we'll never forget that. Just to feel the wind in your faces, and see the ocean far below you and the clouds just above you... those are simple pleasures, but they make life worth living."

"I'll agree with them," Hookfang nodded. "I couldn't fly in that ring, either. When Hiccup opened the gates and let us free, that was their last chance to play a trick on us, and they didn't do it. I never knew that freedom could feel so good. I made such crazy maneuvers in the sky, I almost lost my rider twice! I wasn't trying to lose him, of course. He was my ticket to freedom; if I threw him off, I figured the other Vikings wouldn't be so kind to me after that. After a while, he got a death-grip on my horns. I knew it was so he wouldn't feel like he was going to fall off again, but it was uncomfortable when he yanked on them to change my direction. It took me a few minutes to communicate to him that he could hold on without wrestling my head every time he wanted a right turn. We flew together pretty well after that."

"Fishlegs and I had no problems like that," Meatlug said. "He held onto my ears, but he could tell that he shouldn't hold on too tightly. I think it was more for reassurance and balance than for any actual safety I gave him. I didn't fly crazy like the rest of you did; I can't, of course. We Gronckles don't fly that way. As it was, I had to go full speed ahead just to keep up with you. But it felt so good not to be confined anymore! I didn't fall asleep once on the flight back to the nest. I didn't even feel sleepy, and for a Gronckle like me, that's unusual.

"We all flew home, of course. We had all been held captive for ages; we didn't know what kind of welcome we'd get when we got home. We definitely did not expect to find the Queen chomping on longships and chasing a horde of Vikings all over the landscape. Play!"