I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. Direct quotes from the movie will be bolded.
Busted
"Hiccup, this is not going to solve your problem," Sunset said firmly. The girl was sitting in the grass, legs crossed as she watched Hiccup adjust his harness. The two had immediately run to the cove for Toothless, where they had flown him to a section of the forest where they could collect their thoughts.
Hiccup, however, was having difficulty staying calm.
"Of course it will solve my problems," Hiccup said firmly. "Leaving Berk means Toothless stays safe and I don't humiliate myself."
"What about me?" Sunset demanded.
"Oh, you can come too, if you want."
"Gee, thanks." Sunset rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "I'm going to go see Toothless. Try to gain some common sense while I'm gone."
"I could use a little more sympathy and less sarcasm!" Hiccup hollered as she entered the cave Toothless was resting in. Hiccup grumbled to himself and bent down, sorting the items in the basket he had brought with him. Sunset may have thought he was running away from his problems, but really he was...well...running away from his problems.
I hate it when she's right, Hiccup thought.
A shadow fell over him and he froze. Slowly, he glanced up to see Astrid perched on the rock in front of him, nonchalantly sharpening her axe. "Ugh! Astrid! W-what are you doing here?" Please don't be here to kill me.
The blonde jumped to the ground. "I've come to see what you're up to."
"Me? Up to something?"
Astrid glared at him. "Someone doesn't just get as good as you do. Especially you or Sunset. Now start talking."
Hiccup swallowed nervously. "I don't-"
"Have you been taking private training lessons?" Astrid demanded. She glanced at Hiccup's harness and yanked on it. "It better not involve this thing."
"I know everything seems a little weird, but it's hard to-" Hiccup was cut off by a soft growling coming from the cave. Astrid immediately dropped Hiccup to the ground and stepped forward slowly, eyes narrowed.
"Okay!" Hiccup cried, scrambling to his feet and getting in front of Astrid. "I'm done with the lies. I've been learning how to make outfits. Phew! I feel so much better now. I think we should go back to the village and-"
Annoyed, Astrid shoved Hiccup to the ground. "What was that for?" Hiccup groaned.
"That's for the lies." Astrid bounced the hilt of her axe off of Hiccup's head. "And that's for everything else."
Hiccup's yelp of pain was followed by a snarl. Astrid froze when a pair of green eyes glowered at her from the darkness of the cave. A second later Toothless jumped out, growling madly.
"Run!" Astrid ordered, shoving Hiccup to his feet. She swung her axe in the air and prepared for a battle with the rare breed of dragon.
"Hold it!" Sunset hollered, throwing herself in front of Toothless and Astrid. Hiccup was quick to follow, pushing the axe down with one hand and holding Astrid back with the other.
"It's okay!" Hiccup assured the baffled girl. "
"Okay?" Astrid shrieked. "That's a Night Fury!"
"And you frightened him," Sunset admonished. "He's a little protective." She rubbed Toothless' muzzle soothingly. The dragon continued to glower at the blonde. "Hey, calm down. She's a friend of ours."
"I frightened him?" Astrid said in disbelief. The oddness of the situation struck her and her eyes narrowed into slits. "And who is him?"
"This is Toothless," Hiccup introduced. "Toothless, this is Astrid."
Toothless snarled, not quite liking the girl at the moment for how she treated his friend. Astrid eyed Hiccup, Sunset and Toothless with what only could be described as disgust before racing off in the direction of the village.
"I can't leave you alone for a second, can I?" Sunset asked with a sigh.
"Apparently not," Hiccup drawled. "We are so dead."
Satisfied that the mean blonde girl had left, Toothless turned around and headed back into the cave for some more rest. Hiccup threw his arms in the air. "And just where do you think you're going?"
"We got some major damage control to do," Sunset added. "And I'm not sure how to do it."
"I do." Hiccup brought Toothless back outside and climbed on. "Astrid needs to know that dragons aren't our enemies. And we're going to show her."
Sunset arched an eyebrow. "I don't think she'll agree to that."
"We're not going to give her a choice," Hiccup said firmly.
Unsure of how this would turn out, Sunset hesitantly got on behind Hiccup. Toothless took off into the air, soaring above the forest. Hiccup immediately caught sight of the blonde running across the forest floor. "Down there, bud. And pick Astrid up gently."
Toothless snorted. Hiccup guided the dragon closer to the girl and Toothless snatched her up with his claws. Astrid let out a shriek of terror as she was lifted high into the sky. "Oh, Thor almighty!"
"This is going well," Sunset commented as Hiccup flew over to the nearest mighty pine. Toothless dropped Astrid onto one of the high branches with happiness.
Astrid clung for dear life, staring at the forest floor far below before glaring at the two teens riding the Night Fury. "You two get me down right now!"
"You need to give us a chance to explain," Hiccup pleaded.
"I refuse to listen to anything you two have to say!" Astrid snapped.
"Fine. Then just let us show you." Hiccup extended his hand.
Astrid debated for a moment before slowly climbing up to where Toothless was perched. She knocked Hiccup's hand aside and hesitated slightly when Toothless growled at her. She caught Sunset's encouraging gaze and swallowed.
The redhead moved back so that Astrid was sitting behind Hiccup. Hiccup smiled with assurance and patted Toothless on the head. "Okay, Toothless. Bring us down gently."
Toothless smirked.
The Night Fury gently flew off the tree branch, floating on the updraft for a brief moment. Hiccup turned to a weary Astrid. "See? It's not so-"
Toothless immediately launched into the sky, soaring at a steep angle. Astrid dug her nails into Toothless' body to keep from falling off. Sunset, who was copying Astrid's tactic, winced as the blonde started screaming in terror. "Toothless! Knock it off! Hiccup! Do something!"
"Stop backseat driving!" Hiccup snapped, frantically trying to get Toothless to stop his crazy flying.
"If you were doing a good job in the first place, I wouldn't be nagging you!"
"Oh, you want to steer then?" Hiccup demanded.
Their squabbling was caught off when Toothless went into a dive. Astrid's screaming went up a notch and she removed her grip on Toothless to hang onto Hiccup. "I'm really sorry," Sunset apologized to the obviously-shaken blonde.
"He's normally not like this," Hiccup added.
Toothless flew over the water, deliberately spraying the riders. Hiccup scowled. "Bad dragon! Very bad dragon!"
"Toothless, we kind of need her to like us," Sunset added.
The dragon ignored the commands of his friends. Instead, he went into a series of tumbles and spins. "Oh, perfect," Sunset muttered. "Just what we need."
"Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," Hiccup said flatly, his hope for salvaging the situation diminishing.
Astrid put her hands over her eyes. Having enough, she cried, "I'm sorry, okay? Please, just get me down."
Toothless' ears perked up at the apology. Deciding the girl had gotten the point he stopped the acrobatic tricks and soared gently over the water. Slowly, Astrid removed her hands and stared in awe at the beautiful sunset. The Night Fury flew higher into the clouds. The blonde eyed the fluffy white puffs for a moment before reaching out and trailing a hand through them. A delighted smile crossed her face.
They flew through the skies until dark descended and dozens of glittering stars appeared in the night sky. The shimmering ribbons of the Northern Lights sparkled down on them. Astrid stared at the beautiful scenery, an overwhelming feeling rising up in her chest. It was nothing she had ever seen before.
They soon flew over Berk, the flickering torches bright gold dots in the inky darkness. The new perspective was breathtaking. Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist and tucked her chin in his shoulder, staring below with a soft, happy smile. Hiccup grinned nervously and Sunset shook her head with a small smirk. She sat at the very back of Toothless, attempting to give her best friend a little more private space with his crush.
"Alright," Astrid said finally as Toothless flew back to the forest. "This was...amazing. Your dragon...is amazing." She reached down carefully and patted Toothless' side. A sudden thought struck her and she frowned. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow morning. What are you going to do?"
"He was going to leave," Sunset drawled.
"You can't do that!" Astrid exclaimed.
"I'm not!" Hiccup said hastily. "Not anymore. I'm-"
A soft shrieking suddenly caught their attention. Toothless' ears perked up and he dove into the cloud cover, eyes darting about. "Toothless, what's wrong?" Sunset asked in concern.
Toothless barked sharply. Sunset looked around and spotted a large shadow nearing them. Squinting, she realized it was a Monstrous Nightmare. "Guys! We need to get down!" she hissed, getting as close to Toothless' body as possible. Her friends followed her lead, watching nervously as dozens of other dragons began to cluster around them.
"Toothless," Hiccup whispered. "Toothless, you need to get us out of here."
But Toothless seemed to be bent on going the same way as the other dragons. Hiccup peered around and noticed that all the dragons had farm animals clutched in their claws. Sunset looked on in dismay. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
The dragons weaved among the sea stacks before eventually coming across a massive volcanic mountain. Hiccup's eyes widened as they flew inside the formation, hovering above rivers of lava before entering a giant boiling chamber with hundreds of rock shelves. Toothless settled on one of them, hiding behind a section of rock. The kids watched in amazement (or disgust, in Sunset's case) as hundreds of dragons flew inside with their kill.
"My dad would kill to find this place," Hiccup whispered.
The dragons hovered above a large, red-glowing put that was shrouded in mist. They all dropped their kill down the pit before flying onto one of the rock shelves. "They're not even eating any of it," Astrid observed.
"Those poor animals," Sunset mourned.
Hiccup shook his head. "And to think all our food is being dropped down a massive hole."
A Gronkle was the last dragon to fly into the nest. It regurgitated a small fish, which dropped into the pit where the other food had gone. The Gronkle turned to fly towards the other dragons, but a terrible roar made it change its mind and attempt to flee for the exit.
The Gronkle didn't make it.
A humongous, pale blue dragon shot out from the pit, easily snapping the dragon up in its massive jaws. Sunset clamped her hands tightly over her mouth, face going stark white. Astrid and Hiccup recoiled. "What's that?" Astrid rasped.
The beast suddenly started sniffing the air. It turned its head towards the trio and let out another war. Several dragons took off in fear and Hiccup nudged Toothless frantically. "We need to get out of here, bud!"
Toothless obeyed, flying off just as the monstrous beast snapped at the spot they had just vacated. The behemoth lunged again, but Toothless avoided the snapping jaws and rocketed out of the nest with thousands of other dragons following after them.
No one spoke a word until Toothless landed on the moonlit beach near the cove. Sunset toppled off and Toothless cooed softly, nudging her in concern. Hiccup helped Astrid off the dragon and the blonde immediately started pacing.
"That nest! It's like a bee hive, where that dragon is their queen and the other smaller dragons are controlled by her!" Astrid exclaimed. "We need to tell your dad!"
"We can't!" Hiccup exclaimed, grabbing her arm. "At least, not yet. If they find out, they'll kill Toothless."
"Hiccup, this is what Vikings have been looking for since they first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon?"
Hiccup nodded firmly.
Startled, Astrid studied Hiccup for a long moment. Loyalty and determination shone in his steely gaze. She glanced at Sunset, who was idly petting Toothless' muzzle while staring at the starry sky. She understood that there was more to dragons than anyone had ever thought before, but she suddenly realized that the connection that Hiccup and Sunset felt to Toothless was something that she didn't understand. The dragon meant a lot to them, and for the moment, she was willing to keep quiet. It was the least she could do. They had, after all, trusted her enough to show her the most amazing thing in the world.
"Alright," she said softly. "Then what are we going to do?"
Hiccup looked at her in surprise. She offered a small smile and he glowed, happy that she was willing to help him and Sunset. "Uh, just give me some time to think."
Astrid nodded. She then swiftly punched him in the arm. Hiccup yelped and rubbed his shoulder. "That was for kidnapping me," she said. The blonde then stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "That's for, everything else."
Astrid smiled softly and waved at Sunset before hurrying off. Hiccup watched her go with a stunned expression. He glanced over his shoulder to see Toothless and Sunset eyeing him with a smirk. "What?"
"Young love," Sunset sighed, shaking her head.
Hiccup blushed. "Shut up."
He sat down beside Sunset and the two curled up against Toothless. "That was the scariest thing I had ever seen," Sunset finally said, referring to the monstrous queen of the dragons.
"You're telling me," Hiccup muttered. "As if we didn't have enough problems."
"Well..." Sunset said slowly. "Astrid was the one who was the most into slaughtering dragons and the most serious about the training." Hiccup opened his mouth to defend the blonde but Sunset spoke quickly before he could say anything. "But she also quickly accepted that dragons can be our friends. If she can, then why can't the others?"
Hiccup mulled this over. "Maybe you're right. If I show the Vikings tomorrow that we don't need to kill dragons, then I can also tell my dad about the nest and he won't kill Toothless when I introduce them."
"Let's make sure we allow for a margin of error," Sunset cautioned. "A rather wide margin of error."
"You're certainly optimistic," Hiccup drawled.
"Hiccup, I want everything to work out just as much as you do. But our tribe has spent years with the belief that dragons are beasts to be killed. We're the only two out of generations to see them in a different light." Sunset shrugged helplessly. "It may take more than just one show with a Monstrous Nightmare to show them what we see. And you know what? If your dad doesn't accept who you really are, then that's his problem. You've done nothing wrong."
"I know. You're right." Hiccup smiled softly. "You're always right."
Sunset rested her head against his shoulder. "Not always, but most of the time."
"...Sun, if things go wrong tomorrow-"
"I'll be right there with you," Sunset said firmly. "No matter what anyone says or does, I'll be right beside you. Wherever you go, I go."
Hiccup looked at his best friend and a warm feeling welled up in his chest. She had been there for him since they were three-years-old. She had comforted him during the aftermath of his mother's death and had always accepted him for who he was. And when things were about to get rough and dangerous, she was still by his side, unshakeable.
He loved and appreciated her more than she would ever know. "And wherever you go, I go," he finished their motto, slinging an arm around her shoulder and closing his eyes.
As long as Sunset still believed in him, he could face anything.