I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. Direct quotes from the movie will be bolded.

Rescue Mission

Fog hung around the ships like an irremovable blanket. Stoick could barely see the other ships in the fleet, and he knew that they were right next to his. The tribe leader gripped the gunwale and cast a wary glance at Toothless, who did not move a muscle. Stoick snorted softly and turned his gaze back to the water. "Sound positions," he boomed, wanting to ensure that his armada had not strayed off course.

"Present," someone hollered from his right.

"All well over here," a woman shouted to his left.

More calls reached his ears, confirming their positions. Satisfied that he had not lost a ship in the voyage, Stoick turned his attention back to Toothless to make sure that he hadn't missed a sign that would indicate the location of the dragon's nest.

Gobber joined Stoick by the gunwale. He eyed the rising sea stacks wearily, knowing disaster would be upon them if one happened to gouge the side of their ship. "So, Stoick, I overheard some of the men voicing their concerns, and some were wondering-not me, of course-if you had any sort of plan."

"Locate the nest and destroy it," Stoick answered shortly.

"Yes, of course." Gobber nodded. "Do it the Viking way-send those beasts running."

A movement out of the corner of his eye brought Stoick's attention back to the trapped Toothless. The dragon's ears were at alert, twitching in the direction of sounds unheard by the Vikings. Stoick crossed the stern of the ship purposefully and took hold of the wheel, moving the helmsman out of the way. He turned the ship in the direction of where Toothless' ears were pointing.

"Bear to port!" he hollered, and soon the shout was carried from ship to ship.

A sea stack appeared suddenly from the fog, grazing the side of the ship. Stoick kept a firm grasp on the wheel, his eyes flickering from Toothless to the water.

They were close. He could feel it.

Victory would soon be theirs.

...

As the armada grew closer to their destination, Sunset and Hiccup were frantically prying open the door to the Monstrous Nightmare's cage, putting the first phase of their plan into action. As Hiccup pulled the door open, Sunset coaxed the dragon out into the ring. "It's okay," she cooed. "No one is going to hurt you."

"If you really want to get eaten, I suggest the Gronkle." A voice piped up from behind them.

Startled, the two spun around to see the rest of their classmates standing in the middle of the ring, observing them.

"You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon," Tuffnut proclaimed.

Hiccup and Sunset exchanged glances.

"It's me," Tuffnut added, gesturing to himself.

Snotlout rolled his eyes and shoved Tuffnut to the side. "This plan is awesome!"

"Uh, thanks." Hiccup blinked.

Ruffnut leaned in close to the boy. "You're insane. I like that in a guy."

Astrid rolled her eyes at the actions of her friends and pushed Ruffnut out of the way. "So, what are we doing?"

"You mean you guys aren't mad at us?" Sunset asked, the question directed at the teens gathered behind Astrid.

"Well, we were a little miffed at first," Fishlegs admitted. "But we realized that it's actually cool that you guys know how to train a dragon."

Hiccup and Sunset glanced at each other before smiling.

"Welcome aboard to what I call 'Mission Death Wish'," Sunset grinned.

"I don't like the sound of that," Fishlegs said nervously.

Hiccup urged the Monstrous Nightmare from its cage. Snotlout eyed the dragon wearily and, out of instinct, bent to retrieve the broken head of a spear from the ground. Astrid slapped his shoulder, shaking her head. Snotlout hesitantly dropped the weapon and stood up.

The Monstrous Nightmare stood inches in front of Snotlout, breathing heavily. Hiccup took Snotlout's shaking hand and directed it towards the muzzle of the dragon. Panicked, Snotlout yanked it back. "What are you doing?"

"Its fine," Hiccup assured him, taking his hand again. He placed it carefully on the muzzle of the Monstrous Nightmare. Snotlout grinned in awe when the dragon leaned into his touch, purring softly.

Sunset smiled and went over to the wooden trunk of supplies, removing a bundle of ropes. "I think you guys are going to need these to hang on," she advised.

The other teens watched in amazement as Hiccup moved the other dragons into the ring. All of them were calm and content, as they had no reason to feel threatened.

"Alright guys. Pick a dragon and saddle up," Hiccup instructed. "We're going to save our tribe."

...

As the teens saddled up, Stoick and the fleet of Viking ships were approaching the nest. They sailed past wrecked ship impaled upon a sea stack. Gobber eyed it as they floated by. "Huh. So that's where that went."

A sudden buzz directed their attention to the sky. The buzzing grew louder, echoing throughout the air. Stoick narrowed his eyes. "Prepare yourself. We're coming in to the dragon's nest."

Sure enough, a mere second after he finished speaking, the ship jolted as it crawled slowly onto a pebbly beach. Stoick departed from the ship, scanning the wide land. His eyes landed on the tall, rugged volcano right in front of him.

"Ready the weapons," Stoick ordered. "We're here."

The men and women obeyed, readying canyons and beginning the construction of catapults. Boulders from the shoreline were piled behind the makeshift border, constructed out of sharpened tree trunks. Stoick supervised the entire defense preparations, ensuring that they would be well protected against the beasts.

It was only when he was satisfied with the setup did Stoick turn to his generals, Gobber and Spitelout. "When I give the signal, launch the catapults. We're going to crack this mountain open. Once it happens, all hell will break loose."

"Well, it's a good thing I brought extra undies, then," Gobber remarked.

Stoick ignored his friend and turned to face his army. "No matter how this ends, it ends today."

He was answered by a roar of agreement. Stoick walked to the base of the mountain, waited a moment, and raised his arm.

The catapults were launched, boulders flying through the air and smashing into the side of the mountain. Eventually a section of the mountain crumbled away, leaving a gaping hole in the side. Stoick raised his arm again and this time a flaming bush was sent through the hole, allowing the Vikings to see for a brief moment the hundreds of dragons clinging to the interior walls of the mountain.

Stoick let out a war cry and charged into hole just as the dragons flew out in a chaotic race, startled by the flaming foliage. Stoick attempted to smack any dragon that came within reach, but the beasts were flying too fast for him to make contact and none were fighting back. Gobber lowered his axe and watched as the cloud of dragons flew away. "Is that all? That wasn't so bad."

"We did it!" Spitelout hollered. The Vikings cheered victoriously.

Stoick frowned. Something wasn't right.

"ROAR!"

A deep, guttural roar echoed from within the mountain. The entire formation trembled, rocks tumbling down the side. The ground shook violently. Stoick gripped his hammer and hollered, "It's not over yet! Pull together and keep your ranks!"

The Vikings immediately obeyed, suddenly frightened as to what they had unleashed.

Something suddenly burst from the mountain, causing waves of rocks to rain down everywhere. The Vikings shouted in panic as a gargantuan, light blue dragon stomped out, roaring ferociously.

Gobber stared. "Thor almighty!"

"Odin help us all," Stoick breathed, aghast. "Launch the catapults!"

The Vikings scrambled to obey. Boulders struck the beast, but the only thing the attack seemed to accomplish was make the monster angry. It stomped on the catapults, crushing the wooden contraptions like a bug.

The Vikings soon realized that they were in a hopeless battle. "To the ships!" Spitelout cried.

Stoick caught the dragon's head moving towards the fleet of ships and knew instantly what was about to happen. "No!"

A torrent of flame engulfed every ship, setting them ablaze. The Vikings who were left aboard jumped into the water and swam for safety. Toothless, weighed down by chains, whimpered in fear as the flames licked towards him.

"What have I done?" Stoick whispered. "Spitelout! Get everyone to the far side of the island!"

Spitelout nodded and hollered out to the crowd of panicked Vikings. They immediately started running for safety, leaving Stoick and Gobber at the back of the crowd. "Go," Stoick ordered Gobber.

"Nah, I think I'll stay with you. Just in case you decide to do something stupid," Gobber said.

Stoick put a hand on his shoulder. "I can give them a few minutes by fighting the beast."

Gobber removed Stoick's hand from his shoulder and grasped it firmly. "And I'll double that time."

Stoick smiled and the two charged at the monstrous beast. Stoick threw a rock into its eye, effectively grabbing its attention. "Over here!"

"No, no!" Gobber hollered, distracting the dragon. "You want me instead!"

"You want me!" Stoick shouted.

Fed up, the dragon focussed on Stoick and opened its mouth, firing up gas. Before it could fire, a blast struck the back of its head, causing the beast to twist around just in time to see a group of dragons fly around it.

Hiccup flew the Deadly Nadder around the dragon, studying it critically. Astrid clung to his waist and Sunset sat behind her. "Wow," the redhead whispered. "Talk about death taking form."

"More like the Red Death," Hiccup muttered. Louder, he called, "Ruff and Tuff, watch your backs! Fishlegs, you need to pick up the speed!"

The Red Death snarled and snapped after them. The kids flew their dragons out of reach, satisfied that they had distracted it from the two Vikings below.

Gobber and Stoick stared in awe. "He's every bit the stubborn Viking you ever were."

Speechless, Stoick could only nod.

...

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" one Viking cried, staring at the spectacle in disbelief.

"The kids are flying dragons!" another cried.

"Are they really going to fight the Red Death?"

"They'll be killed!"

"Keep moving," Spitelout ordered. As much as he wanted to observe what would occur, he knew that if things went wrong they would be sitting ducks.

"Hey, Spitelout, isn't that your son on the Monstrous Nightmare?"

That sealed it.

Concerned and horrified, Spitelout immediately turned around and started back towards the main part of the island.

Nothing, not even orders from the chief, would keep him from ensuring his son's safety.

...

"Alright, Fishlegs!" Sunset called, surveying the Red Death below them. "What do we have?"

"Heavily armoured skull and tail," Fishlegs listed. "We need to avoid both. It's got small eyes, so it relies on its large nostrils for smell and its ears for hearing."

"Legs and Lout, find its blind spot!" Hiccup ordered. "You should make some noise to keep it confused. Ruff and Tuff, see if it has a shot limit. Try to make it mad."

"We can do that," Ruff grinned mischievously. The kids flew off to do as they were instructed.

"We'll try to be back as soon as we can," Sunset called as Hiccup directed the Deadly Nadder high in the sky.

"No worries! We got this!" Tuffnut hollered as he and Ruffnut flew their Hideous Zippleback in front of the Red Death.

Hiccup scanned the ground below, frantically searching for Toothless. Sunset spotted the flaming ships and gasped in horror. "There! On the ship!"

Hiccup steered the Nadder over to the ship Sunset pointed out. Hiccup handed the reins to Astrid and the two jumped to the burning deck, protecting their faces from the flames. "Go and help the others!" Hiccup instructed.

"We got this," Sunset added.

Astrid nodded, casting them a worried look before flying off. Hiccup and Sunset hurried over to Toothless. The Night Fury whimpered happily upon seeing them. "Hang in there, bud," Hiccup said, removing the muzzle.

"We're not going to leave you like this," Sunset assured him, yanking on the chains desperately.

Toothless shrieked in warning. The kids glanced up just in time to see the Red Death's giant foot crashing down onto the ship, sending them all flying into the water. Planks and pieces of cloth surrounded them as they sunk. Hiccup and Sunset gathered their senses quickly and swam down to Toothless, who was struggling madly.

They were all sinking. The kids tugged helplessly on the chains, knowing they didn't have the strength to free their dragon. Hiccup and Sunset exchanged a desperate glance, their lungs screaming for air. They wouldn't last long.

But they weren't leaving Toothless.

A sudden force grabbed them by the backs of their vests, dragging them towards the surface. Hiccup and Sunset broke through the surface, coughing madly and gasping for air. They turned to see Stoick bringing them towards shore, a determined expression on his face.

"Dad...?" Hiccup asked tiredly as the tribe leader placed the kids underneath an overhanging rock.

Stoick did not answer. Instead, he lunged back into the water. Startled, Hiccup sat up and shoved the hair away from his eyes, watching the water intently. Sunset placed a hand on his arm and frowned in concern.

But they didn't need to worry. Toothless shot out of the water, bringing Stoick with him. "Wow," Sunset breathed.

Hiccup was awed. His father had saved Toothless.

His father had saved a dragon.

The roar of the Red Death reminded him of the problem at hand. Toothless jumped onto the rock they were taking cover beneath and snorted. Hiccup smiled. "Let's do this."

Hiccup hurried over and got into the saddle. Sunset raced over to her best friends, but Hiccup held out a hand, preventing her from climbing on. "Sun, this may get dangerous."

"Let's not be in denial," Sunset responded. "It will get dangerous."

"I don't want you to get hurt," Hiccup said firmly. "I'm going to do this alone."

"Like heck you are!" Sunset swatted Hiccup's hand away and jumped onto Toothless before Hiccup could take off without her. "This is one occasion where I'll take part in an act of violence. Wherever you go, I go."

Hiccup could not help but smile. "And wherever you go, I go."

"Wait, Hiccup!" The tribe leader ran over and grabbed Hiccup's arm. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, for everything."

Hiccup smiled softly. "I am too, Dad."

"You don't need to do this."

"Yeah, but hey, we're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard and all that." Hiccup grinned.

Stoick blinked hard. "Hiccup, I am proud to call you my son."

Hiccup beamed. It was as if a great weight had been taken off of his shoulders. "Thanks Dad."

Sunset grinned, delighted that Hiccup and his father had reconciled. Stoick then turned to her, catching her off guard. "And there's no one else I'd rather you be beside during this, Hiccup."

The girl flushed. "Thanks, sir."

Hiccup gave Toothless a nudge and they rocketed into the sky with Stoick watching them. Sunset noticed that the rest of their tribe had gathered a distance away, observing. "Well, Hiccup, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Hiccup agreed.

And they sped towards the Red Death, ready for battle.