How to View Your Dragons Chapter 14
The air around the nest was gray with settling ashes, leftovers from the exploded Queen dragon. The only living thing in sight was Chief Stoick, who was stumbling around desperately, calling, "Hiccup! Hiccup! Son!"
"Why was that scene important?" Sizzle asked the other dragons.
Toothless answered. "Aside from showing that Stoick was really worried about my rider, it also showed that he had completely changed his mind about throwing Hiccup out of the tribe. Any Viking who heard him calling Hiccup 'son' would know that Hiccup had been restored to his place in the chief's family, and also to his rightful status as a Viking. That would affect how they treated him."
Then the chief saw an irregular black lump on the ground ahead. He ran, calling his son's name, and stopped short before he got too close to the Night Fury. He stared in mute shock at the empty saddle and the mangled tail-control rods.
"Toothless, what were you thinking and feeling at that point?" Meatlug asked him.
"Pain," the Night Fury answered. "That was the hardest landing I'd ever made, even worse than the one on the Vikings' island when I lost my tail. I couldn't use my wings to slow down, and my tail was useless, so I pretty much fell straight down at the end. I was dizzy from when my head hit the ground, I was scorched inside and out from flying through the Queen's flames... I was a wreck. If Stoick had wanted to finish me off, I couldn't have stopped him."
"Did you think that's what he was going to do?" Stormfly wondered.
"I wasn't sure," Toothless admitted. "The two of us had a cease-fire when we rescued each other from the water, but I didn't know what he was thinking now. Would he blame me for causing Hiccup's injury? Would he want payback for all the damage I'd done to his village over the years? I just didn't know. It was a really bad moment for me."
Stoick sank to his knees, moaning, "Oh, son. I did this." The rest of the Vikings approached slowly, silently. Astrid burst out of the crowd, expecting to congratulate Hiccup on his great victory, and stopped in shock as she realized he might not have lived to savor his triumph. Several dragons, including Hookfang, Barf and Belch, Stormfly, and Meatlug, raised their heads above the crowd so they could see... and they looked as mournful as the Vikings did.
"Was that the first time any of you ever felt bad about the death of a Viking?" Toothless asked them.
"He set us free," Stormfly explained.
"He used crazy grass on us in the ring instead of a sword," Meatlug added.
"He wouldn't kill me when it was my day to die," Hookfang said.
"Throwing that eel at us wasn't nice, but it was better than a spear," Belch said
"Or an axe," Barf nodded.
The only sound to be heard was Toothless' agonized moan as he rolled onto his side, his wings wrapped tightly around himself. He and Stoick made eye contact for a moment. The chief's eyes watered.
"I'm so sorry," he sobbed.
"And there it was," Toothless said quietly. "Just like with Astrid on that first wild flight, he said the magic words, 'I'm sorry.' He admitted that he was wrong. That's when I knew he wasn't going to kill me. Our truce was still in place. I could count on him to take good care of the only human who really matters."
On the screen, the Night Fury's eyes widened for a moment. He slowly, agonizingly unfurled his wings, revealing Hiccup within, held tightly with all four legs. Stoick gasped and lunged at his motionless son, listened to his chest for a moment, and tearfully exclaimed, "He's alive! You brought him back alive!" The background music swelled, playing the theme that usually related to Toothless.
"Catching him in free-fall and bringing him back safely... that was quite a feat, even for a Night Fury," Hookfang said kindly. "Was that your greatest moment?"
"Up until that moment, I didn't know for sure if my efforts and my sacrifice had been for nothing," Toothless admitted. "I did my best to save him, but I couldn't tell if I'd succeeded. I didn't understand the chief's words, but his tone and his excitement told me everything I needed to know. Hiccup was alive! That last, desperate effort wasn't a waste. Yes, that might have been my crowning moment of awesome."
"More than killing the Queen?" Barf asked.
"What good would it have been to kill the Queen, if Hiccup had died too?" the black dragon replied. "The Vikings would have been happy enough that the war was over. They would have written a saga about Hiccup the Valiant and his last, greatest battle. Stoick would have remarried eventually, and produced another heir. The other dragons would be free at last. But I would have been left with nothing. No more friend, no more flight... nothing. My life would have been over.
"But while I'm talking, I have something I have to ask you, Hookfang. I distinctly saw your rider wipe away a tear when he realized that Hiccup had survived. Was he going soft?"
"Snotlout? Soft? Never!" the Nightmare scoffed. "He was just, uhh, wiping some dust out of his eye, from all that dust that was flying around after the Queen blew up. Yeah, that's what he was doing. It was dust. He'd never go soft."
"Yeah, right," Barf whispered to Belch.
"I just had another thought," Stormfly added. "When Hiccup was supposed to kill Hookfang in the ring, he threw his helmet aside and said, 'I'm not one of them.' When Stoick went to pick up Hiccup, he threw his own helmet aside. Was he saying something by doing that?"
Meatlug shook her huge head. "I think he was saying that he had to get his helmet out of the way if he was going to put his head to Hiccup's chest and listen for a heartbeat without goring his son with the horns."
"Still, it was kind of a 'like father, like son' moment," Stormfly decided. "Their actions were parallel, even if their motives were totally different."
On the screen, the Vikings were clapping and cheering. Some of the dragons joined the cheers, oblivious to the fact that they were surrounded by Viking dragon-fighters. But no one fought any more dragons today. Toothless and Hiccup's cease-fire had spread to the entire tribe and every occupant of the nest.
Toothless finally relaxed, now that he knew Hiccup would be all right. Stoick reached out hesitantly and rested his hammy hand on the dragon's head. "Thank you for saving my son."
"Paws," Toothless said. "Remember when I said there were things about Stoick that the rest of you didn't know? There you are. Even he could change. The valiant dragon-slayer isn't killing a dragon who's helpless in front of him; he's thanking him for a good lifesaving job. Now I had peace with three Vikings, counting Astrid, and the rest would follow where their Alpha led."
Meatlug scowled. "I still don't think that compensated for the way Stoick treated Hiccup in the Mead Hall."
"All I can say," the Night Fury replied, "is that sometimes dragons make mistakes, and sometimes humans make mistakes too. If we judged each other only by the things we've done wrong, who would be left? A very wise human once said, 'He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.' Or, in your case, Meatlug, let him eat the first stone and spit it out as lava. Forgiveness can be hard, but holding a grudge is harder. If Stoick was willing to restart our relationship on a more peaceful basis, then I was willing to give it a try."
"How did you know you could trust him?" Belch asked.
"Because of Hiccup," Toothless said simply. "Both of us wanted what was best for him. It took Stoick a long time to realize how important Hiccup was to him, but he finally got there. We have that in common now. It might be the only thing we have in common, but it's big enough to carry us over the rough spots."
"That's deep," Meatlug said.
"It is," the black dragon nodded. "The things that matter the most are usually very deep. Play!" Just after Stoick said, "Thank you for saving my son," they saw Gobber shrug and add, "Well, ye know, most of 'im."
"Paws!" Hookfang nearly shouted. "Okay, let's settle this, once and for all. Toothless, how did Hiccup's leg get so badly injured that they had to cut it off? There are all kinds of theories. I've heard that it got burned when the two of you fell into the Queen's final fire."
"No, that's not what happened," Meatlug argued. "It got wrecked by scraping on the ground when you made that crash-landing. Isn't that true?"
"No, neither of those things is true," Toothless said in a small voice. "The truth is..." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I did it to him."
"You WHAT?!" all of the other dragons burst out.
"I had no choice!" he went on, his voice rising sharply. "He was falling out of control, and I didn't have much control, either. I had only one chance to grab him as we tumbled, and I didn't dare miss him, or I knew he'd die. I had to catch him and hold onto him the first time. My claws aren't suited to catching and holding things, like human hands are. I had to use my mouth. And, because I didn't dare risk losing him once I got him, that meant I had to use my teeth. I tried to make it a clean bite, but he was twisting in the air, and... that ruined his leg."
They stared at him in silence for a few seconds.
Sizzle broke the silence. "Was that payback for what he did to your tail?"
"No!" Toothless nearly shouted. "For one thing, I didn't know he was the one who had shot me down; I just learned that today. For another thing, even if I did know, I wouldn't have done that to him on purpose. I don't treat my friends that way. If I'd wanted payback, dragon-style, then I would have let him fall and die."
"True," Hookfang nodded.
"I did it to save him," the black dragon said sadly. "There was no other way. I've replayed that scene in my mind a hundred times, trying to think of something I could have done differently. There was no other way." He took a deep breath. "I did it to save his life. If I had to do it over again, I'd do it the same way. I feel terrible about what I did to him, but if I hadn't done it, he'd be dead."
Meatlug nodded. "So you're going to carry that memory with you for the rest of your days, and it's going to affect how you treat Hiccup?"
"Yes, probably," Toothless said. "That's not something I can easily forget."
The Gronckle went on, "Just like Hiccup is going to carry the memory of shooting you down for the rest of his days, and it's going to affect how he treats you?"
They could hear crickets chirping.
At last, Toothless spoke. "When you're right, you're right. I've got no grounds for bitterness against him. He didn't know what he was doing, and I had no choice in what I did. Through sheer luck and random circumstances, we're even. If I'm not a villain, then neither is he. He never blamed me for what happened to his leg, and I can't be mad at him for what happened to my tail." He glanced back at his tail with its man-made control rods and its bright-red tail fin. "Hiccup always did his best for me, and I've always done my best for him. Nothing is going to change. Play!"
The scene shifted to Hiccup's bed. He lay unconscious, scarred and battered from his ordeal. Toothless crooned and sniffed at him, then backed off and barked, "Please wake up! Don't make me say it again." The boy's eyes opened slightly; the dragon muttered, "Yes! It's about time! You had me so worried."
"Paws again," Stormfly said. "I'm sorry to keep interrupting, but I have another question that people and dragons keep arguing about. How long was Hiccup unconscious?"
"Hmm." Toothless looked thoughtful. "Some people say he was out for weeks, or even months, because that's how long it would have taken the Vikings to make their village dragon-friendly. They had to strengthen the main beams of their roofs to handle our weight when we perched on them, and they had to build that dragon-habitat building from scratch. Other people say he was out for just a few days, because the burns and bruises on his head wouldn't still be there weeks later, and because the Vikings didn't know how to keep someone alive in an extended coma. The best answer I can give is, 'I don't know.' I was totally focused on Hiccup, and on wanting him to be all right. I was indoors for almost all of that time, so I didn't see the rising and the setting of the sun; I have no idea how many days went by. I know I missed a few meals. All I can be sure of is, it was too long. Much too long."
"I guess I can live with that," Stormfly agreed. "Play!" They watched Toothless nuzzle Hiccup more and more forcefully, until the dragon accidentally stepped on Hiccup's midsection, causing him to cry out in pain.
"That sounded just the way he sounded when Astrid dropped her axe on his midsection," Meatlug realized. "He must have been sick of people and dragons hitting him there."
Hiccup realized that he was home, and Toothless was in there with him. What would his father say about a dragon in the house? The dragon was excitedly leaping all over the place, knocking over everything as he went, until Hiccup fought off his pain and fatigue and tried to get out of bed. He pulled back the bedclothes and...
Toothless sensed his change of mood instantly.
"What just happened?" Sizzle asked him.
"Just watch," Toothless said softly.
Hiccup put his feet down on the floor. One of them was not his own. Toothless sniffed the new mechanical device that was supposed to bear half of Hiccup's weight for the rest of his days, and crooned mournfully.
"I'd learned a thing or two about man-made replacements for missing body parts," the Night Fury explained. "I could feel his shock and his sense of loss, and I understood how he felt, because I'd been through the same thing."
"You looked at him, and you saw yourself?" Meatlug concluded.
"Yes," Toothless nodded. "Thank you for summing that up." Meatlug and Stormfly did matching double-takes.
Hiccup breathed hard. He looked into the Night Fury's eyes and saw comfort there. He pulled himself together and made himself stand. He took a hesitant first step, then tried again and fell. Toothless caught him with his head and helped him up again. "Okay. Thanks, bud," Hiccup said as he leaned on the dragon and hobbled toward the door.
"Paws!" Sizzle exclaimed as Toothless' tail waved back and forth.
"Is this another irreverent comment?" Meatlug asked, annoyed.
"No!" the Terror said. "Just look at them! Toothless lost his left tail fin, and now Hiccup lost his left foot. They're a matched pair now."
"He's right," Belch said, surprised.
"I think they always were a matched pair," Barf nodded.
"These pictures are going to make me cry," Toothless sniffled. No one said anything for a few seconds. At last, the black dragon whispered, "Play."
They reached the door. Hiccup let go of his friend, took the last few steps himself, opened the door... and was startled by a Monstrous Nightmare just outside.
"Hey, isn't that how the moving pictures started?" Stormfly asked. "Hiccup was in his house when a Nightmare flamed the door! Have we gone back to the beginning?"
Hiccup slammed the door, hyperventilating again. "Toothless, stay here!"
"Oh, right!" Hookfang chuckled. "Did he think he was going to take me down without any help? Was he trying to protect you from me, Toothless?"
"Yes, that's exactly what he was trying to do," Toothless burst out, surprised. "He was looking out for me... but he wasn't thinking very clearly, I'll admit that. Under the circumstances, I can hardly blame him, though."
Hiccup opened the door again, expecting to see Nightmare fire all over the door. What he saw was Snotlout on Hookfang, leading Fishlegs on Meatlug and the twins on Barf and Belch as they flew across the town. He looked around, unable to believe his eyes. His dragon-hating town had become a dragon's paradise. Nadders roosted on the roofs of houses, Zipplebacks feasted on fish served in what used to be the night-vision torches, and other dragons walked the town's streets with people on their backs. One entire building had been turned into a mini-nest for dragons, with Gronckle tubes on the bottom, perches for other dragons inside, and a communal nest for Terrible Terrors on the roof.
"Okay, it's my turn to ask a question," Barf said. "That music that's playing in the background - it always plays when Hiccup is thinking about Astrid. Now it's playing when all we see is dragons, and Astrid is nowhere in sight. What's up with that?"
"All I have is a guess," Toothless answered. "Astrid was Hiccup's dream come true. So they're using her music in the broader sense of 'Hiccup's other dream come true,' namely, people and dragons living in peace together. I can't say for sure that I'm right, like I usually do, but that's my best guess."
"That makes sense," Barf nodded. "I can live with that."
They watched Hiccup looking around in amazement. He finally said, "I knew it. I'm dead."
"Why would he say that?" Hookfang asked.
"Humans often believe that, after they die, their spirits go to some other place that's a lot better than this place," Stormfly explained. "That was all his mind could come up with; nothing else could explain why we were living with the Vikings now."
"No, but you gave it your best shot," Stoick said as he ran up to him, blinking hard. "So... what do you think?" Then someone shouted, "Hey, look! It's Hiccup!" Everyone began running toward him excitedly.
"So now they all think he's more than Hiccup the Useless?" Belch wondered.
"They all saw him bring down the Queen," Toothless answered, "and they saw him riding on me to do it. It's hard to argue with facts that are right before your eyes."
"Even with stubbornness issues?" Hookfang asked.
"When the chief says his son is a hero, then the stubbornness issues have to move over," Meatlug said sagely. "Even if you don't believe your own eyes, you'd be a fool to contradict your Alpha."
Hiccup gazed around, stunned by the adulation from the village that used to resent his existence. Spitelout, the chief's brother and partner in dragon-hating, even had a Terrible Terror perched on his shoulder. "He looks like a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder," Sizzle smirked.
"I'm sure you 'arrr' right," Toothless said with a totally straight face. Stormfly rolled her eyes.
"Turns out, all we needed was a little more of... this," Stoick smiled.
"You just gestured to all of me," Hiccup answered, trying to take it all in. That was Gobber's cue to announce that he'd made Hiccup's artificial leg. Hiccup was commenting on it when Astrid came up from behind him and hit him in the arm.
All the dragons snarled at her. "Astrid, grow up!" Stormfly growled. "The poor guy just woke up out of a coma! He just found out that he lost his leg! I know you're a rough, tough Viking, but can't you show a little compassion?"
"Why didn't he hit her back?" Hookfang demanded.
"Human males aren't supposed to hit the females," Belch explained. "Most of the time, the females are smaller and weaker than the males, so it makes sense."
"She wasn't weaker than Hiccup!" Hookfang observed.
"In that case," Barf finished, "he didn't hit her because he didn't want to start a fight he couldn't win. That makes sense, too."
"That's for scaring me," Astrid said threateningly.
"Oh, like that was his fault?" Toothless snapped. "Stormfly, has she changed at all since this happened? Because if she hasn't, then I'm going to tell her how I feel about her, and I'm going to make that first roar at Hiccup sound like a cat's purr by comparison!"
"Yes, she's changed... a little," Stormfly said. "The last time she hit him was when he was looking at another girl... somebody named Heather, I think. Aside from that, I think she's showing him a little more respect now. Please don't roar at her. That's my job anyway."
"Fine," Toothless shrugged. "I'll let her go for your sake. But if she ever pulls another stunt like that... I'll put her lights out!"
"No, you won't," the Nadder shot back, "because if she ever pulls another stunt like that, I'll put her lights out! After everything Hiccup did for her, for her tribe, and for us, he definitely deserves better treatment than that!"
Hiccup was flabbergasted. "Wh- what? Is it always going to be this way? Because -" She cut him off with a kiss that was a lot more than just a peck on the cheek. Hookfang reached down with a wingtip and blocked Sizzle's view of the kiss. The Vikings were gasping with surprise. "...I could get used to it," Hiccup finished, looking blissed-out and dazed.
"Did she rub his 'D' spot?" Meatlug wondered.
"She sure did something he liked," Barf smirked.
"So why doesn't she do that to him all the time?" Toothless asked Stormfly. "He obviously liked it, although I can't see the appeal. If two dragons touched muzzles like that, it would mean somebody was about to get bitten."
"Humans play by their own rules," Meatlug observed.
"Tell me about it!" the Night Fury burst out.
"I don't know why she doesn't do it all the time," Stormfly answered him. "It looks like she enjoyed it, too. I'll admit, I don't get it. Maybe she didn't want him to get used to it for some reason."
Gobber ruined the moment by handing Hiccup a bundle that had to be a new riding rig for Toothless. That was Toothless' cue to burst out of the house, prompting shouts of, "Night Fury! Get down!"
"Oh, give it a rest!" Toothless snapped at the image. "I just helped save your chief's son and your whole tribe! I've been living in your chief's house for... days, weeks, however long it was. You've got other dragons walking peacefully in your streets! Do you really think I'm still a deadly threat?"
"Old habits die hard, I guess," Belch commented.
"You know... those issues?" Barf added with a wink.
Meatlug considered the scene. "They got used to you, eventually. Maybe they adjusted to the other dragons more quickly because they already knew what we look like. We were more familiar to them. You were the only one of your kind that they'd ever seen, so you were still strange to them."
"Maybe," Toothless nodded slowly. On the screen, he jumped on several Vikings who didn't get out of the way fast enough, and snorted, "We've been on the ground for too long, Hiccup! Let's fly!"
"He just woke up out of a coma," Meatlug reminded him. "Was he really alert enough to go flying?"
"A little fresh air and some altitude will make anyone feel better," Toothless said matter-of-factly. "I think that's as true of humans as it is of us. Hiccup certainly didn't hold back." They watched the two of them prepare for flight, testing the new stirrup that was made for Hiccup's mechanical foot and the new red-and-white tail fin.
"Where did that stuff come from?" Sizzle asked. "I thought it all got wrecked when you crash-landed, Toothless."
"Gobber must have made it," the black dragon said.
"But how did he know how to make it?" the Terror persisted.
"Are you kidding?" Stormfly answered. "Hiccup's desk was covered with drawings of how he made the first flying rig. Gobber just copied what he saw, with a few changes to accommodate Hiccup's new leg. It didn't take any imagination or creativity; Hiccup already took care of that part."
"I think that part is what he's best at," Meatlug nodded.
Hiccup glanced at Astrid on Stormfly; that pair were also eager to take to the skies. He looked around at his village, which was filled with dragons walking, flying, or sleeping, but not attacking.
"This is Berk," he began.
"Is he still complaining about his nest?" Barf wondered.
"His voice sounds more up-beat than he did at the beginning," Hookfang noticed.
"It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three."
"Yup, he's still complaining," Belch nodded, "but he doesn't sound so depressed about it now."
Toothless and Stormfly sprang into the air. The Nadder quickly took the lead.
"I thought Night Furies were the fastest dragons!" Meatlug exclaimed.
"I got a slow start because I'd been on the ground for ages, watching Hiccup, instead of flying," Toothless explained. "She didn't stay in the lead for long."
"That's because you cheated!" Stormfly scolded him.
"Hey, you could have made the same move I did," the Night Fury shrugged. "It's not my fault that you didn't think of it."
"Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless," Hiccup went on, as the Night Fury and the Nadder raced across the village. "The people that grow here are even more so."
"No argument," Hookfang nodded.
"No argument here, either," Belch agreed.
"Well, maybe not all of them," Meatlug disagreed.
"He's speaking in general terms," Toothless explained. "Now, watch this!" They watched as he jumped on a Viking ramp and cut inside Stormfly to take the lead.
"I still say you cheated," Stormfly muttered.
"All's fair in love, war, and dragon racing," Toothless said archly.
"The only upsides are the pets," Hiccup went on.
"Oh, he's still calling us pests?" Hookfang burst out.
"No, not pests, pets!" Stormfly corrected him.
"We aren't pets, either!" Meatlug objected. "We're friends!"
"I think he's deliberately trying to sound like he did at the beginning," Toothless realized. "He never called me a pet, or treated me like one. He knows better. it's just a literary device to tie the end of the story back to the beginning."
"So it's almost over?" Sizzle asked.
"I think so," the Night Fury nodded.
"Darn it," the little dragon said. "It got good at the end."
Hiccup continued to speak as the other dragons caught up with them, turning the racing pair into a V-formation. "While other places have ponies or parrots, we have... dragons!" Toothless broke formation and soared to the clouds, roaring, "We win! You'll never catch us!"
"Don't you mean, 'I win! You'll never catch me?' " asked Barf.
"No, he means 'we,' " Stormfly answered for him. "The two are one, probably closer than many mated pairs. Now we all know why." Toothless nodded.
The symbols that meant "How to Train Your Dragon" appeared on the screen. Then a series of pictures of hand-drawn dragons began flashing across the screen, accompanied by runes that must be the names of humans. The display was over.
Now, what did it all mean?
o
A/N
Shortly after posting this chapter, the story passed the 10,000-view mark. It's been a long time since I wrote a story that gained that much traction that fast. To all the readers who did all that reading, thank you.