Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.
Hiccup frowned as he followed his father to the arena, stepping through the lively streets of Berk as Stoick greeted random Vikings on the trails. Everyone was bustling toward the South side of the island, and the closer they got to the ring, the deeper Hiccup's frown became.
What exactly was Astrid doing? She said she was going to think of something, but, by the looks of things, that something hasn't happened yet, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that something incredibly bad was about to happen, and it only got worse once they crossed the bridge to the arena.
Once they were across, he glanced around, trying to find Astrid, hoping she wasn't about to do something stupid like she always does. Having no luck in finding her, he followed Stoick as the man made his way through the crowd, which was relatively easy considering he was the Chief, and the Chief needed to make his speech.
"Stoick!" The familiar voice of Cnut boomed across the crowd, and Hiccup glanced over just in time to see him and Thora weave their way through and reach them, clapping hands with Stoick and pulling him into a burly man-hug.
"I'm so glad Hiccup could make it today," Thora smiled as they pulled apart, and Hiccup wasn't too sure how he felt about that look in her eyes, "We wouldn't want Astrid's future husband to miss her exam, now would we?"
Hiccup, unable to stop his glare, lowered his eyes so as to not disrespect her, but not before catching his father's raised brows. He started a little when he heard Stoick's laughter, his glare deepening when the others started laughing along with him.
"Well," Stoick laughed, but Hiccup could see serious contemplation in his eyes, clapping Hiccup on the back, causing the boy to stumble forward a little, "Then we better start making the contract arrangements, then?"
"Sure thing, Stoick," Cnut laughed, and the Chief gestured for him and Thora to follow him to the stand where he would make his speech. Hiccup made a move to follow, but he was stopped by a pair of arms being thrown over his shoulders, pulling him into a headlock.
"Hey!" He grunted, hearing familiar snorts and laughter behind him, a set of knuckles ruffly gruffing across his head.
"So, the lil' Hiccup's got a girly-friend!" Hiccup grunted again, shoving Tuffnut's arms off of him, turning to face the rest of the recruits. Ruffnut shared her brother's smirk, Fishlegs was trying to keep a tiny smile hidden, and Snotlout was pouting, his arms crossed as he faced the other direction.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "She's not my girlfriend."
Ruffnut scoffed in disbelief, though her smirk remained, and Snotlout suddenly jumped in. "See? I told you guys Astrid wouldn't go for this loser." Hiccup rolled his eyes again; he knew about Snotlout's like for Astrid, though the moron had a bad habit of teasing her one day and flirting with her the next, which confused and annoyed Astrid beyond belief.
Snotlout came over to stand next to Hiccup, throwing his arm over his cousin's shoulders. "See, Astrid's looking for someone with a little more muscles and a handsome demean-ugh!"
He was cut off when Hiccup elbowed him in the stomach, loosening his hold on his shoulders, then turned to twist his arm behind his back. He tried to wiggle out of Hiccup's grasp, but the boy merely swiped one of his feet under Snotlout's causing his older cousin to fall flat on his behind, a rather disgruntled look on his face.
Ruffnut snorted. "Gee, you sure seem quite protective of Astrid. You sure you're not her boyfriend?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes once again before he began glancing around the arena. Things haven't started yet, and he seriously needed to find Astrid; he wanted to know exactly what her plan was.
A sudden uproar caught everyone's attention, and they all glanced over to the tallest stand, finding Stoick standing between Thora and Cnut, readying himself to speak. Hiccup let out a startled sound when Snotlout suddenly grabbed his arm, dragging him through the crowd of Vikings as he followed after the rest of the recruits to get closer to the gates of the ring.
Hiccup jerked his arm out of Snotlout's grasp once they reached their destination, glancing around frantically for Astrid. He finally found her, standing in the archway of the entrance, waiting for those damned gates to open up. He ignored the recruits' confused looks as he scurried past them just as Stoick began speaking.
"Now," He grinned, "If somebody had told me that in just a few short weeks that Astrid would go from being, well... Astrid to defeating my own son in Dragon Training, I would've tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad!"
Everyone cried out in laughter, and Hiccup dodged a few Vikings who were cheering in a rowdy way, trying to push his way to the entrance.
"And you know it! Hah, hah! But here we are, and no one's more surprised than I am. However, I know for a fact that no one is more proud than our very own Hofferson family."
Hiccup winced at that, hopping over a few Vikings who were, for some reason, sprawled out on the ground, most likely drunk from too much celebrating.
"Today, their daughter becomes a Viking. Today she becomes one of us!"
A mass of cheering Vikings pushed closer to the gates, and Hiccup hopped out of the way just in time, right into the entrance of the arena.
Astrid stood alone, holding onto her shield; her back was to him, and she didn't even seem to notice he was there. He rested a hand on her shoulder, feeling her jump in surprise before turning to face him, relaxing when she caught his eyes.
"Be careful with that dragon."
"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," She muttered, catching sight of her parents following Stoick to their seats.
"What're you gonna do?"
"Put an end to this. I have to try, just..." She looked back at him, "If something goes wrong, just... will you make sure they don't find Stormfly? Take her with you when you try to hide Toothless?"
"I will. Just make sure nothing goes wrong."
Astrid nodded, and Gobber appeared at the entrance, grinning.
"Astrid, it's time. Knock 'em dead." He said before turning back to the arena.
Hiccup turned to go back to the stands, but he froze when he heard a small sound escape Astrid's throat. She watched through blurred eyes when he turned on his heel to face her.
"Hiccup-" His shoulder smothered her mouth when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes widened, and she tensed up for a brief moment, before she relaxed, burying her head into his neck, pressing herself closer to him.
He let go of her far too early in her opinion. Her eyes were no longer blurred, and they shared a nod before she turned and walked into the arena. Gobber soon joined Hiccup in the entrance, closing the gate before he turned to walk into the stands, clapping Hiccup on the shoulder on his way out.
Hiccup didn't make a move to leave this time.
Astrid looked around at the crowd cheering her name, and she slowly walked toward the rack of weapons. She grabbed the smallest knife she could find.
"Hm," Stoick muttered, glancing over at Gobber, Thora, and Cnut, "I would've gone for the hammer."
Astrid took a deep breath, "I'm ready."
The gates unbarred.
The Monstrous Nightmare, its body set alight, burst into the arena, growling. It sprung onto the wall, crawling across it like a spider, shooting a blast at the crowd, who dodged it. It crawled upside down along the chains that acted as the arena roof, stopping above Astrid. It bent its neck back, looking at her, and then pulled down a winged forelimb, releasing itself from the chains, landing in front of Astrid.
It slowly advanced on her, and her face turned determined as she backed away, dropping her knife. She held out her free hand.
Stoick narrowed his eyes, "What is she doin'?"
Hiccup grabbed onto the gate bars, his eyes narrowing, trying to get a better look.
The Nightmare let out a growl. "It's okay," Astrid whispered, "It's okay."
She dropped her shield, "I'm not one of them."
The crowd began muttering and gasping, but the Nightmare's eyes slightly dilated, giving her a curious look.
Stoick sat up in his chair, his brows furrowing in anger, "Stop the fight."
"No!" Astrid exclaimed, holding out a hand, "I need you all to see this." The Nightmare's nostrils flared as it began sniffing at her hand. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
"I said stop the fight!" Stoick shouted, slamming his metal hammer against the bars, bending it.
The Nightmare's eyes constricted. Spooked, it snapped at Astrid. She dodged with a surprised shout, scrambling away as the Nightmare let out a blast of fire.
In the ravine, one of Toothless' ear plates twitched, and his head snapped up, his eyes wide before they suddenly turned to slits, a growl escaping his throat.
"Astrid!" Hiccup cried out, snatching an axe off the wall beside him. He used it to lift the gate slightly, quickly sliding under it.
Astrid screamed as the Nightmare continued chasing her, and Stoick pushed members of the crowd aside, Cnut and Thora following them as best as they could, though Stoick was very far ahead of them. "Out of my way!"
"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, gesturing for Astrid to come toward him before snatching an axe off the ground where the weapon rack had once been standing, chucking it toward the Nightmare. It smacked its head, and it quickly whirled around to face him, running after him.
Stoick wrenched open the gates, jerking a hand toward himself, "This way!"
Astrid quickly ran in, sprinting past Hiccup as he distracted the Nightmare, and Stoick pulled her aside, but before Hiccup could reach the gate, the Nightmare shot a blast of fire at the wall next to him, and he was forced to dodge, running in the opposite direction. The Nightmare quickly tackled him, trapping him under a clawed foot.
Suddenly, a familiar whirring resounded through the air, and a blast of fire exploded against the linked chain roof of the arena. Toothless immediately jumped through the hole, disappearing into the dark smoke.
The crowd watched in awe as the Night Fury and the Nightmare began fighting with each other, the black dragon pulling the larger one away from Hiccup.
"A Night Fury..." Gobber muttered in awe as he watched the beasts fight.
Toothless quickly got the upper hand, snapping at the Nightmare each time it tried to reach Hiccup, and the red dragon scurried off with a growl.
Hiccup quickly scrambled to his feet, trying to push Toothless away, who warbled at him in confusion. "Alright, go, Toothless! Get out of here!"
Vikings began jumping into the ring, their weapons at the ready. Stoick snatched an axe off the wall, running toward them just as Cnut and Thora reached the arena entrance.
"Chief, no!" Astrid shouted, trying to go after him, but Thora grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"Astrid, stop, it's too dangerous!"
Astrid watched helplessly as her father ran into the ring in an attempt to help Stoick. Toothless' eyes darted around the arena, looking trapped and upset. In his panic, began shoving Vikings aside, fighting them off as he tried to keep them away from Hiccup.
"Stop, you're only making it worse!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless suddenly tackled Stoick, trapping him under his feet.
"Toothless, no!"
Toothless inhaled and everyone froze when the familiar hiss of gas began sounded through the air.
"NO!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless swallowed back his fire, looking at Hiccup with wide, confused eyes, warbling helplessly.
Hiccup could only shake his head a little, his eyes pleading and desperate.
Suddenly, a hammer was thrown into Toothless' head, and the Vikings pounced on him again. They wrenched him from Stoick and penned him to the ground.
Hiccup tried to run toward them, but he was held back by Cnut, "No, don't hurt him! Please don't hurt him!"
A Viking held out an axe to Stoick, and Astrid quickly wrenched her arm from Thora, sprinting into the ring and hopping in front of Stoick; her eyes were frightened, but her tone was determined, holding out her arms protectively.
"Chief... don't."
Stoick glared at her, pushing the axe away, "Put it with the others."
His voice was colder than Hiccup's ever heard it.
No one noticed Ruffnut's contemplative gaze following Toothless' every movement as the struggling dragon was forced into one of the cages. She glanced at Hiccup and Astrid for a brief moment as the latter was grabbed by the back of the neck and dragged off by Stoick, while the former had a gentle hand placed on her lower back by Thora, who, along with Cnut, led the girl to follow the chief and their heir.
Ruffnut glanced back at Toothless' cage, and she wanted to hit herself for the way her chest clenched when she heard a pathetic warble resound from the cage.
Cnut followed Thora as the woman gently led Astrid into the Great Hall with a hand on the small of her back. Stoick, however, was not so gentle, dragging Hiccup by the back of his neck, flinging him inside when they entered, nearly sending the boy to the ground.
"Leave us," Stoick said, his voice still cold.
Thora and Cnut shot him a look, pursing their lips.
"Stoick-" Thora tried, but she was interrupted.
"I said leave us."
Thora and Cnut stared at his back for a long while, their eyes like daggers.
"As you wish, Chief," Thora muttered before she and Cnut turned, glancing back at Astrid for a brief moment, their expressions helpless.
Astrid watched them excite the building, her face both frightened and worried. Thora gave her a supportive look before the two closed the doors behind them. She turned to Stoick.
"I should've known. I should've seen the signs."
"Dad-"
"We had a deal!" Stoick roared, and Astrid flinched a little when she saw Hiccup's face dull out in the face of his father's rage.
"Chief-"
"And you!" Stoick rounded on her, making her flinch back, "So everything in the ring, a trick? A lie?"
"I screwed up," Astrid admitted, "I should've told someone before now. Take this out on me, be mad at me, but please don't hurt Toothless."
"The dragon? That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"
"He was just protecting us, Chief!"
"They've killed hundreds of us!"
"And we've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup shouted, turning Stoick's attention back on him, "They defend themselves, that's all!"
"He's right!" Astrid added, "They raid us because they have to! If they don't bring enough food back, they get eaten themselves! There's something else on their island, Chief! It's, it's a dragon like-"
"Their island?" Stoick interrupted, rounding on her, hissing, "So you've been to the Nest?"
Astrid quickly shook her head, her eyes wide, "Did I say Nest?"
"How did you find it?" Stoick demanded.
"I, I didn't," Astrid protested, "Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the island."
Hiccup began shaking his head helplessly as he watched his father's face turn into a mixture of hatred and contemplation. "No. No! Dad!"
He pushed passed Hiccup and Astrid, walking between them as he stalked toward the door. Astrid watched helplessly as Hiccup protested, her eyes just as panicked as his.
"Dad, no, you don't know what you're up against! It's nothing like you've ever seen!"
Stoick kept walking, completely ignoring him.
"Dad, I promise you, you can't win this one!"
Nothing.
Hiccup ran toward him, trying to grab a hold of his arm, "For once in your life would you please just listen to me!?"
Stoick suddenly turned, tossing out his arm, the back of his hand catching Hiccup across the cheek, and Astrid let out a shocked sound, her hands shooting up to her mouth as she watched Hiccup fall back to the ground, and suddenly, everything seemed much more quiet than it had been.
Hiccup, in his shock, slowly sat up, bringing a shaky hand to the spot of blood on the corner of his mouth. He ignored Astrid when the girl kneeled next to him, placing her hands on his shoulders to help him sit up. He looked up at Stoick, his brows furrowed but his eyes shocked. Stoick looked surprised for a brief moment before he recovered, dulling his face out into one of coldness.
"You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not Vikings."
He shook his head, and his voice cracked a little over his next words. "You're not my son."
Astrid watched him leave the Great Hall with horror in her eyes, and the man slammed the doors shut, leaving them alone in the dark. She glanced at Hiccup, and her worry for him increased when she saw that his face had been completely removed of all emotions before his let his head fall.
Outside, Stoick staggered a little, releasing a few shaky breaths before letting his voice bellow across the crowd of waiting Vikings.
"READY THE SHIPS! We're goin' to the Dragon's Nest, and ridding Berk of these beasts once and for all!"
The crowd cheered, slowly dispersing as they left to go prepare for the voyage, but everything seemed to freeze when Gobber made his way over to Stoick, speaking quietly, his expression worried.
"Uh, Stoick... we have a bit of a problem..."
Aw, cliffhanger!
And please do not give me crap for having Stoick smack Hiccup. They're in the Viking age, and his son was effectively a traitor. He had every right to kill him on the spot, so what he did was completely mild.
And, Stormfly didn't come to the rescue, as her hearing is not as good as Toothless'.