Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.
Gobber watched as the battered ships pulled into port. He waited until Stoick had hopped onto the boardwalk before making his way toward the man.
"What happened to the other ships?" Gobber asked.
"You don't wanna know," Spitelout muttered as he walked by.
"Well, I trust you found the Nest, at least."
"Not even close," Stoick grumbled before shooting Gobber a look, "How's Hiccup been doing?"
"Oh, fine, fine," Gobber shrugged casually. He kept his eyes ahead of him as he continued, resisting the urge to watch his friend's face morph into complete shock when he gives him the good news. "Yes, he's one of the top students in the class, actually."
Gobber was jerked around to face Stoick when the man placed a hand on his shoulder, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the incredulous expression on the redhead's face. "Hiccup?"
"Aye, Hiccup. I told you the boy had a way with an axe. He's been handling himself brilliantly."
Quite brilliantly, actually. He knew the boy was smart, especially when it came to battle tactics, and Gobber had to resist the urge to rub it in Stoick's face.
Gobber glanced to the side, catching sight of Cnut and Thora walking down the docks, their travel sacks thrown over their shoulders. Oh, he'll enjoy the look on Cnut's face, alright...
Stoick blinked at the news, glancing ahead and keeping his gaze in the distance. He stopped for a moment, running a hand through his beard thoughtfully before walking off with a grumbling, "Hmmmm..."
Gobber let himself roll his eyes when his friend was out of sight. Hopefully, Stoick will see past Hiccup's similarities to Valka once he sees how well Hiccup handles himself in the ring. Maybe he and the boy will have an actual conversation.
Gobber blinked at the thought before he let a snort escape his lips. Nah.
Gobber turned his attention to Thora and Cnut when they finally reached his person, and he gave them a large grin.
"Ah, there's our celebrity parents."
"Celebrity?" Thora blinked.
"Oh, yes," Gobber nodded flippantly, "Astrid's been handling herself quite well in the ring. She and Hiccup are neck-in-neck as it is. She runs off sometimes, probably to escape her new fans. Oh, a life of a celebrity can be pretty rough. Perhaps Hiccup's been teaching her; he disappears quite often himself, now that I think about it..."
"Astrid and Hiccup...?" Thora smiled, and Gobber saw a glint in her eyes that made him regret even speaking Hiccup's name.
"Astrid tying with Hiccup?" Cnut blinked.
"Aye. She has a... way with the beasts."
Hiccup squinted his eyes as he and Toothless glided high in the air. "Okay," Hiccup patted Toothless a little, "We're gonna take this nice and slow." They flew out toward the ocean, and Hiccup glanced down at the cheat sheet. "Okay... position... three...? No, four." He pushed down on the pedal, and the tail fin flared. Toothless glanced back at it before facing forward, narrowing his eyes in determination. He arced in the air, hovering sideways as he curved around in a wide turn.
Hiccup looked behind him at the prosthetic tail for a moment, watching as it blew around in the wind, but stayed flared out perfectly. "Okay," He murmured, "It's go time..."
Toothless dived down, grazing the water, and Hiccup looked up as they passed under a rock formation, watching as seagulls flew far above them.
"Yes, it worked!" Hiccup grinned. He attempted to steer Toothless to the side, but they ended up crashing into a rock formation, and Toothless let out an annoyed grunt, quickly flapping his wings to get away from it.
"Sorry!"
Toothless snorted. Hiccup tried to steer him away, but they bashed into another rock formation, and this time Toothless growled.
"That's my fault!"
Toothless snorted again, flicking one of his ear plates upward, slapping Hiccup right in the face. Hiccup sputtered, shaking his head a little before he gave Toothless a little glare. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" He glanced back down at the cheat sheet. "Position four... no, three."
Hiccup pressed down on the pedal, and Toothless immediately arced upward, letting out a little roar as they dove upward into the sky.
"Yeah!" Hiccup cheered as they climbed higher and higher into the sky, "Go, baby! Oh, this is amazing- MY CHEAT SHEET!"
The cheat sheet unhooked from the saddle in the wind, blowing upward, and Hiccup scrambled to grab it.
"STOP!"
Toothless stopped flapping his wings, glancing at him in confusion. The dragon's eyes widened when the momentum caused Hiccup to float upward, his harness unhooking, and the two shared a panicked look before they suddenly began plummeting.
Hiccup flailed around to grab a hold of the saddle while holding onto the cheat sheet at the same time. "Oh, gosh! Oh, gods! Oh, no! Alright, you gotta, gotta angle yourself! Okay, no, no, no! Come back down towards me! Come back down-OW!"
Hiccup clutched his face where the flailing tail had smacked him before he shook his head, sticking the cheat sheet into his mouth so both his hands were free. He desperately reached out his hands, finally grabbing a hold of the saddle, and he pulled himself down, quickly hooking his harness back into place.
Toothless twisted around, facing forward, and Hiccup let out a muffled scream through the cheat sheet as they speedily descended toward a maze of rock formations. Toothless spread his wings, attempting to slow down, and he let out a scream of his own when he realized it wasn't helping.
Hiccup snatched up the cheat sheet, trying to read it, but it was whipping around in the wind, making it impossible. He glanced back and forth between the sheet and the speedily approaching maze in a panicked manner before he simply tossed it away.
He leaned forward on Toothless, determination on his face, pressing down on the peddle. The tail fin flicked outward, and Toothless pressed forward, taking on a look of determination of his own.
Toothless and Hiccup sped through the maze, moving in sync, with intuition, expertly dodging rocks, birds, and tiny dragons alike. Hiccup pressed down on the pedal, testing out different movements, and Toothless flipped and whirled around through each one, managing a tight, hair-raising series of split second turns.
They eventually cleared the maze, making it to the open water unscathed, and Toothless curved up when they came upon the clear sky. He climbed higher and higher into the air, and Hiccup grinned when he looked down.
They were gliding peacefully over the ocean, and Hiccup could see the entire island of Berk from where they were.
Hiccup threw his arms up in a victory pose. "YEAH!"
Toothless let out a cheer of his own, absentmindedly tossing out a plasma blast. It exploded into a ball of fire directly in front of them, and Hiccup dropped his arms, his expression flat. He glanced down at Toothless; the dragon's eyes were close, and he had a large smile on his face.
"Really...?"
Astrid smiled as she watched Stormfly. She had removed all her bandages and stitching, and the scales no longer appeared wrinkled. The Nadder was chirping happily, flapping her wings as she glided and hopped around the cove.
Astrid clapped a little, and Stormfly gave what appeared to be a smile, squawking cheerfully as she landed next to Astrid. She nuzzled her snout into her shoulder, and Astrid grinned a little, giving her a small pat.
"I'm glad I got you flying again..." She murmured, and Stormfly gave her an answering squawk.
The two suddenly glanced up, turning their attention to the billowing smoke hovering into the sky. Astrid furrowed her brows a little; the smoke appeared to be coming from the village, which must mean they were having one of their large bonfires. Astrid doesn't understand why; the sky was still blue and the sun hung up ahead quite brightly. She paused for a moment; the only time they have bonfires during the day was when the party goers knew that the event would last well into the night, and that only happened when they were celebrating something.
The voyage must have returned.
Astrid gave Stormfly another pat, "Okay, girl, I have to go, alright?"
Stormfly gave an understanding chirp, and Astrid gave her one final pat. "Okay, I'll be back tomorrow and we can test out your flying skills, alright?"
Stormfly squawked again, and Astrid quickly sprinted out of the cove.
Astrid sprinted through the village, ignoring the stares that ranged from disbelief, questioning, and proud. She smiled when she caught sight of her parents, standing next to Gobber and Stoick by the large bonfire in the middle of the plaza.
"Mom, Dad," She exclaimed, "You're back!"
Thora smiled, opening her arms of for Astrid to give her a 'welcome back' hug. "Astrid, we are so proud."
Astrid furrowed her brows, smiling in confusion. "Um... proud?"
"Yes," Thora said, sharing quick looks with Cnut and Gobber, "We've heard about your accomplishments in the ring. I can't believe it!"
"Yeah..." Astrid smiled hesitantly, her voice flattening, "Me either..."
"And don't worry, Astrid," Cnut grinned, "Even if you lose to Hiccup tomorrow, it doesn't change a thing. You've really proved yourself. Maybe you'll be fighting alongside me during a Raid one day." He and Gobber shared a quick chuckle.
"Yeah..." Astrid mumbled as her parents began talking excitedly to each other and to Gobber about her joining them in the Raids, "Can't wait..."
Her parents were proud of her, and her shoulders slumped when she realized that what they were proud of was a lie. She wasn't some amazing warrior, she was just using small tricks she had learned from Stormfly.
She glanced back up at her excited parents, amazed at how quickly she could change her mind.
She didn't want to kill a dragon.
Hiccup rested against Toothless, watching the sunset. Toothless was curled up behind him, picking at the pile of fish in front of him. Hiccup held his own fish above a fire, a pursing his lips.
His face was covered in soot, and his hair was burnt, forced backward in windswept spikes.
He had noticed the smoke coming from the village hours ago, and knew that his father had returned, but he didn't want to head back. He had finally achieved his dream, something that people had told him he was crazy for, and he didn't want to stop yet.
He flew.
He actually flew.
Hiccup let a small grin appear on his face. Ever since he was little and had discovered dragons, he had wanted to be able to see what they saw. He wanted to soar through the skies, see the world through a dragon's eyes.
And he did.
And it was amazing.
Hiccup furrowed his brows at the sound of gagging, glancing over in time to see Toothless spit out a regurgitated fish head. The dragon looked up at him with a large smile, and Hiccup kept himself from cringing.
He held up his smoked fish, "No thank you, I'm good."
Toothless shook his head, and Hiccup took it as a shrug as the dragon went back to his own food. They glanced up at the sound of squawking, catching sight of a small flock of Terrible Terrors flying toward them, landing, and walking up to them. Toothless let out warning growls, using his front feet to pull his fish closer to him. One of the Terrors quickly snatched the fish head up, dragging it back with it to munch on. The one next to it tried to snatch it, but the thief snapped at it. The argument ended when one spewed fire at its annoyance.
A fish in Toothless' pile suddenly stood up straight, earning a surprised look from the Night Fury. When it was revealed to simply be a Terror trying to drag the fish away, Toothless snorted, snatching the fish from it and swallowing it whole. He let out a mocking noise, reverberating from the back of his throat.
Hiccup watched in amusement as the Terror growled, pawing at the ground as it prepared its fire, the hiss of the gas resounding. Toothless snorted, a bored look in his eyes, shooting a tiny blast of fire into the Terror's mouth. Its belly expanded with the fire before it puffed out with an odd squeak, smoking blowing out of its mouth. It dazedly stood, dizzily walking away.
"Not so fireproof on the inside, huh?" Hiccup grinned before snatching a fish from Toothless' pile, earning an irritable look, tossing it to the Terror, "Here you go."
The Terror stared at the fish in surprise for a brief moment before it snatched it up, its neck expanding as it swallowed the fish whole. It looked up at Hiccup, taking a few steps before pausing. It walked the rest of the way, nudging his arm with its snout so it could curl up next to him.
Hiccup stared at it in surprise before slowly lowering his arm, letting a hand rest on the tiny, snoozing dragon. He glanced around, watching the Terrors munch on the regurgitated fish before looking at Toothless, who crooned at him curiously.
Hiccup gave him a weak grin. "We're wrong about you, ya know," He murmured, "All wrong."
Toothless purred at him, and Hiccup gave him a small pat on the head. "You wanna fly again?"
Toothless let out a happy bark before standing up, startling the Terror next to Hiccup awake. It squawked curiously as Hiccup stood, hopping back onto Toothless' saddle.
It watched them as they zoomed into the air, and Hiccup glanced back when they were high in the sky, grinning a little at the sight of the flock of Terrors following them.
Hiccup let out an elated shout went he and Toothless shot upward, climbing above the clouds. He looked around, seeing the very tips of mountains peaking through the fluff.
"C'mon! Let's see what you've got!"
Toothless roared, folding in his wings and sharply diving down, following the length of one of the mountains. "Whooohooo!" Hiccup cheered, and he glanced back, catching sight of the Terrors attempting to catch up with them despite their speed.
Hiccup looked ahead again, adjusting the pedal, and Toothless spread his wings seconds before they hit the water, and they sped across it. "Yeah!" Hiccup shouted happily, watching the water arc slightly with their speed.
Hiccup glanced up, catching sight of on oncoming rock formation, which curved into an arch, almost like a bridge. He glanced down at Toothless. "You wanna try?"
Toothless grunted, and Hiccup hopped, his feet landing on the saddle. Toothless' prosthetic immediately snapped shut without Hiccup's help, and Toothless flapped his wings awkwardly in an attempt to stay aloft long enough. Hiccup crouched as they reached the rock formation before jumping over the arch, Toothless zooming under.
He landed on Toothless a little less than gracefully before hooking his foot back into the pedal, flaring out the tail fin. He and Toothless shared a satisfied look, and Hiccup glanced to the side, seeing the Terror flock flying next to them, squawking curiously.
Hiccup grinned as they flew off, giving a small cheer. "Yes! I can't believe we actually did it!"
Hiccup sighed through his nose in boredom that night, his head resting on his arms on his desk. He was flicking his charcoal back and forth, surrounded by drawings of his flight suit, Toothless' prosthetic, as well a sword. [1]
The sword was something he had been working on for a while; he wanted something that could intimidate. His design made the sword retractable, and it had a built in lighter as well. Now he just needed a way to make it flammable without it actually melting...
The charcoal was flicked too far to the side, and Hiccup stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and putting back into place to flick it again. He was stuck on what to do; on one hand, he wanted to win, because he wanted more than anything to win his father's respect, but he didn't want to kill a dragon, which is exactly what he would have to do should he win. On the other hand, he didn't want to lose, because his father would be disappointed, and Astrid would probably get mauled by a Monstrous Nightmare, and that was something he most definitely did not want.
The charcoal was flicked too far to the sighed again, and Hiccup sighed through his nose again, following it with his eyes.
He jumped when he caught sight of his father standing in the doorway.
"Dad!" He exclaimed, hastily trying to hide the drawings of Toothless as his father squeezed into the room, barely fitting through the door, "You're back! Um... Gobber's not here, so..."
"I know. I came to see you."
"You did?" Hiccup muttered in surprise, leaning against his desk in an attempt to hide his drawings, quickly snapping his leather book closed, and Stoick nodded.
"Yes, I heard some news today," Stoick said.
"News?"
"Yes. You've been keeping secrets."
"Secrets?"
"Let's talk. About that dragon."
"Oh, gods, Dad-" Hiccup muttered, but Stoick suddenly burst out laughing. Hiccup glanced around awkwardly for a moment before he joined, though his laughter was fake and hesitant.
"You're not, you're not mad?" Hiccup asked.
Stoick suddenly stopped laughing. "Mad?" He bellowed loudly, "I've been hoping for this!"
Hiccup narrowed his eyes in confusion. His father wanted him to befriend a Night Fury?
"And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time! Or mount your first Gronkle head on a spear!" He sighed. "Oh, what a feelin'!"
He clapped Hiccup on the back so hard that the boy ended up in the basket that was next to him, not noticing the way his face fell during his speech. Hiccup released a quiet sigh; his father had no idea...
"Ah, all those years you were holdin' out on me! Hidin' in the forge during the Raids, sneakin' off in the woods, those weird inventions of yours! Odin, it was rough, I almost gave up on you! But, this! Thor almighty!"
He never noticed the way Hiccup's face dulled out when he talked about his inventions, or how his own father almost gave up on him. Hiccup quietly huffed, pulling himself out of the basket as his father found a chair, scooting toward him.
"And with you doin' so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about." He grinned at Hiccup expectantly, but Hiccup merely glanced around a little awkwardly. What was he supposed to say exactly? 'Sorry, Dad, but you're wrong; I don't want to kill dragons'? Yeah, that would totally go over well.
A pregnant pause.
Stoick scooted a little closer, still grinning before his face suddenly fell, and he cleared his throat. "I, uh, I brought you something." He reached behind him into his sack, pulling out a small helmet complete with horns, handing it to Hiccup. "To keep you safe in the ring."
Hiccup stared at it, feeling a little proud, finally earning enough of his father's respect to be allowed to wear a true Viking helmet. He ran his hand over the top of the hat. "Wow... thanks..."
"Your mother would've wanted you to have it. It was half of her breast plate."
Hiccup's hand froze, and he let an odd expression overcome his face as he slowly removed his hand, curling his fingers, a very weird image flashing through his head. Without moving his head, he rolled his eyes upwards to look at Stoick.
"Matching set," Stoick said, tapping his own hat, "Keeps her close, you know? Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal."
Hiccup continued staring at him. The helmets looked completely different, especially in their sizes, and he questioned his father's sanity if he truly believed it was from his mother's breast plate. He carefully placed the hat on the desk. There was another small pause before Hiccup stretched out his arms, letting out a big, fake yawn. "Well, I should really... be getting to bed."
"Right," Stoick said, quickly standing, their voices mingling together.
"Uh, good talk-"
"Good chat-"
"See you in the ring tomorrow-"
"Right, thanks for stopping by, and the, uh... breast hat."
"The hat." Stoick's voice was bit stern at the end, and Hiccup decided to keep his breast comments to himself.
Stoick quickly squeezed through the door, knocking over a few shields as he tried to maneuver through the too small space.
Hiccup puffed out his cheeks before blowing out air, his eyes wide in exasperation. He let out a huff, waiting for his father to leave before he snuck out the back of the forge, wanting to go out on another flight with Toothless.
He may not know what he's going to do, but he knows that he doesn't want to kill a dragon.
Aww, poor Hiccup and Astrid...
If anyone wants a visual on Hiccup and Toothless' second flight, I used their scenes from Gift of the Night Fury.
1) Hiccup's flame sword, which I believe is called Smoldering, from the second movie
Well, I finished this chapter earlier than expected, and like I said before, I'm alone for the rest of the day with nothing better to do, so I'm going to get started on another chapter and if I finish it in time, I'll go ahead and publish it today :)