VILLAGE - NIGHT
Gobber and the recruits seated at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, toasting campfire food around a roaring bonfire.
"...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face.
I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." Gobber told them with them all hanging to every word he said. All except Hiccup who had heard the story lots of times before.
"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon. Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something." Fishlegs said while playing with his food.
"I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face." Snotlout said as he postured to Astrid. She just rolls her eyes.
"Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Gobber said with a mouthful. When I heard him say that I tried to hide my look of horror from the others.
Gobber stands and stretches.
"Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous who'll win the honor of killing it?" Gobber says as he hobbles off.
"It's gonna be 's my destiny. See?" Tuffnut says as he rolls up his sleeve to reveal a red dragon on his arm.
"Your mom let you get a tattoo?" Fishlegs asked him.
"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark." he answers.
"Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."Ruffnut says
"Yes it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now." her brother tells her
"It wasn't there yesterday. Is it a birthmark or a today-mark?"Snotlout asks.
I get up and walk away from the group,Astrid watches him as he leaves the bonfire.
BLACKSMITH STALL later
Hiccup enters a small room at the back of the stall. It's covered in drawings of weaponry and scale models. He lights a candle and lays his sketchbook out on the desk, opening it to the drawing of Toothless. With a look of determination. Hiccup picks up a charcoal stick and re-draws the missing tail.
Later that night I use the leather bellows to light the stone forge. with the help of a pair of tongs I pull intricate iron pieces from the coals.I drop them onto the anvil, twisting them as I hammer them lightly and dunk them in a barrel.I carried the pieces to my workbench and laid them out in place on a one-to-one schematic. It's a sketch of a mechanical fin.
COVE - DAWN
Hiccup arrives, winded, straining under the weight of a full basket. He clicks the scale he found Toothless approaches, sniffing him.
"Hey Toothless. I brought breakfast.I hope you're hungry." I said as I drop the basket and kick it over,causing the Fish to spill out.
"Okay, that's disgusting." I said as I saw the fish spill approaches, settling in to devour the feast.
"Uh..we've got some salmon..." I said and Toothless swallows it."... some nice Icelandic cod..." and he swallows those too.
"... and a whole smoked eel." I finished at wich he reared back and started growling at it."No, no, no! It's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either."I said and I threw it aside.
Toothless focuses on the remainder. With the dragon distracted, I unwrap his prosthetic fin and open it like a fan.
"Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business." I said as I cautiously approached the injured tail, but every time I get near it, Toothless sweeps it away like a cat.
"It's okay." I say as I drop a knee on top of the tail. Toothless' head juts up, slows its chewing to a halt.
"Okay...okay.. There. Not too bad. It works." I say not noticing that the dragon tenses, slowly spreading his wings.I straps the prosthetic fin in place and cinched the straps.
Toothless BOLTS! He snaps his massive wings and takes to the air, carrying me with him.
"Woah! No! No! No!" I say as I struggle to hold on to the tail. As the ground speeds away, Toothless immediately TIPS into an uncontrolled bank and dive.
I see the folded fin rattling uselessly in opposition to its flared counterpart. Flap as he may, Toothless can't correct his trajectory.
I swallow my fear and crawls toward the folded prosthetic. I reached it and YANKS it open. The flared, fan-like appendage catches the air, stabilizing the twisting tail.
"It's working!" I say excited as Toothless arcs just short of the water and climbs... high into the air.
"Yes! Yes, I did it." I yell loud making him glance back at me, busily holding the tail open while trying to hold on. I am suddenly thrown from the tail in the
intense force of a turn.
I bounce across the water's surface and takes a me to operate the tail, Toothless does the same,plunging in a massive cannonball.
I resurfaces, roughed up, but beaming. Toothless appears seconds later.
TRAINING GROUNDS
"Today is about teamwork. Work together and you might survive."Gobber says the next day in training. Gas seeps through the cracks of a wide double door.
It BLASTS OPEN. A cloud of smoke engulfs the ring, swirling around the paired-up teens. Astrid with Ruffnut. Snotlout with Tuffnut. Fishlegs with me. All carry buckets of water, poised to throw them.
"Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."Gobber says as the smoke encircles us, cutting us off from each other.
"Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its..."Fishlegs mutters to himself.
"Will you please stop that?" I ask him since it makes me nervous.
Snotlout and Tuffnut are moving nervously through the fog, back to back. Snotlout is singing to himself to calm his nerves.
"If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna-"Snotlout says but he stops as he sees something approaching."-There!"he say and both he and Tuffnut hurl their water into the fog.
"Hey!"astrid says and is followed by Ruffnut saying "It's us, idiots." Astrid and Ruffnut are soaked.
"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."Tuffnut say but is clearly a wrong move.
"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure."Snotlout says to Astrid trying to save the situation but Astrid elbows Snotlout in the face and Ruffnut drops Tuffnut with a punch to the throat.
"Wait." Astrid tell to them and the three freeze. A tail SWEEPS out of the fog, taking them down making them spill their buckets.
Fishlegs and me come across them and see the puddles of spilled water.
"Oh, I'm hurt. I am very much hurt."Tuffnut yells as he run out of the mist.
"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..."Fishlegs says
"Look out!" I say to him as a Zippleback head emerges out of the smoke. Fishlegs hurls his water at it, completely dousing the head. It leers and opens its mouth, spewing gas into the area."Oh. Wrong head."Fishlegs says as the gas flows around our legs. Fishlegs flees in a panic.
"Fishlegs!"Gobber yell but he turns around fast as a clicking sound comes from behind us. Sparks flash in the smoke.
"Now, Hiccup!"he says as the other head sweeps out of the smoke. I hurl my water with all my might. It arcs and drops short of the dragon's sparking mouth. The dragon grins, savoring the kill."Oh, come on!"I say disappointed.
"RUN, HICCUP!" Gobber yell and covers his eyes."Hiccup!" Gobber says but halts as he see the Zippleback hesitate, sniffs. Then teens get to their feet, watching transfixed. Gobber peeks through his fingers to see... The Zippleback backing away from me. I stand up and hold my hands out, as if controlling it.
"BACK! BACK! BACK! Now don't you make me tell you again!" I tell the dragon with confidence in my Zippleback retreats through its door and into its cave,hissing."Yes, that's right. Back into your cage."I tell him as I slyly open my vest, revealing the spotted smoked EEL from earlier. I toss it inside the door, then SLAMS it shut."Now think about what you've done."I say and turn to the teens and Gobber. They stare, slack-jawed.
"Okay! So are we done? Because I've got some things I need to... ...see you tomorrow." i said as I jog out of the ring, past the speechless group.
BLACKSMITH STALL
That night I cut and stitches leather, draw and shape steel. I work by candlelight. When I'm done I hide a harness, complete with handles and foot pedals.
COVE
The next morning I stand before Toothless, holding the new runs off and I chase him down."Hey!"I yell. After a while I manage to put the saddle on him and soon we are zooming over the ocean. The tail breaks free sending me flying.
BLACKSMITH STALL
I adjust the harness and uses a metal clamp to myself to Toothless' saddle.
SKY/FIELD
Next day we are zipping through the air - my rudimentary harness and tail controls are working, barely. We crash-land in an open field.I recover to find Toothless still rolling around in the tall grass.I decide to call it dragon nip since it has the same effect with dragons as catnip have with writhes on his back, tongue wagging, incomplete bliss. I take a patch of it with me to use int dragon training tomorrow.
TRAINING GROUNDS
We are up against the Gronckle again. It gets rid of the teens quickly and then charges at me. I discreetly pull a fistful of dragon-nip' and presses it up to the Gronkle's nose. It immediately stops struggling and goes weak in the knees. I drop the handful of dragon-nip to the Gronkle goes down with it, whimpering and where Gobber and the recruits' are standing it looks like I'm controlling the Gronkle with no more than a limp arm.
OUTSIDE THE ARENA
after the training the recruits walk home together, surrounding me and bombarding me with questions.
"Hey Hiccup, I've never seen a Gronkle to that before." Fishlegs says."How'd you do that?"Tuffnut asked and Ruffnut completes with "It was really cool."
I squirm and invent an excuse."I left my axe back in the ring."I say and turn and hurries back."You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up with you." I yell to them from a distance.
COVE
I decide to just play with Toothless for a while. After lunch I start to rub I rub him behind the ear it causes him to relax and fall over.
TRAINING GROUNDS
An angry Deadly Nadder approaches Hiccup. Just as Astrid moves in to strike, Hiccup performs his special rubbing technique, which sends the Nadder down. Astrid and the other kids look on from the sideline in amazement.
MEADE HALL
That night Hiccup sits down at a table to eat. The other recruits notice him and move over to his table to talk to him - leaving Astrid alone.
"Hey Hiccup!"Fishlegs says followed by Snotlout asking"What was that? Some kind of trick?What did you do?"
"Hiccup, you're totally going to come in first, there's no question." Tuffnut tells him
COVE - LATER
Hiccup is using a mirror-like object to create a patch of light on the ground. Toothless claws and chases the light patch like a cat chasing a laser pointer.
TRAINING GROUNDS - DAY
A beam lifts from the door of another dragon pen."Meet the Terrible Terror."Gobber says as a tiny, pint-sized dragon steps out and moves toward the recruits.
"Ha. It's like the size of my-"Tuffnut says shortly before he is taken down in a blur."Get it off! Get it off! Oh! I'm hurt, I am very much hurt!" he yells.
Hiccup stops the Terrible Terror with the same light-patch trick he used earlier with Toothless. The tiny dragon retreats back to it's cage. The teens approach him yet again as Astrid looks on with suspicion.
"Wow, he's better than you ever were."Tuffnut says to Astrid
FOREST - LATER
Astrid furiously hurls her axe at a nearby tree. She notices Hiccup walking by in the distance, carrying one of his trademark harnesses. She quickly tries to follow, but he loses her in the woods. She huffs in frustration.
COVE - LATER
Hiccup straps a newly designed harness onto Toothless. With Toothless tied to a nearby post with a rope. Hiccup rides him in the air - while stationary. Toothless looks like a giant kite tied to a tree stump. This harness seems to rope breaks and the pair CRASH into a tree. Hiccup's face is red.
"Oh, great"he says as he noticed that the hook that holds him onto the saddle has bent.
BERK - NIGHT
The streets are empty save for a lone Viking who crosses Hiccup's path."Hiccup."the viking says and Hiccup nods, trying to look casual. Once the coast is clear,
he covertly steers Toothless into the Blacksmith's presses himself inside, rooting through stuff and making a racket. Astrid, walking nearby, is alerted."Hiccup?"she asks making Hiccup freeze. Then frantically tries to pry the ring off the saddle hook. It won't budge.
"Are you in there?" she continues to ask as she's right outside walking along the outside of the Blacksmith' out the window and closes the shutters behind him. Hiccup's harness line is stretched through the window,still attached to Toothless' saddle."Astrid. Hey! Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid."he say.
"I normally don't care what people do, but you're acting weird. Well,weirder."she tells spots a nearby sheep and makes a move toward it. As
a result, Hiccup is suddenly pulled tight against the window shutters. He strikes a pose to compensate... then gets pulled through the shutters. They snap back in Astrid's reopens them and finds nothing but an empty the distance, Toothless and Hiccup slip off unseen.
DOCKS - DAWN Gobber pov
A lone, battered ship is pulled into a slip, overloaded with equally battered-looking men. They disembark to a crowd of onlookers, looking like a team of hometown heroes who just had their butts kicked. I hobble through the mumbling crowd to find Stoick last to disembark and glowering with battered pride."Where are the other ships?" a viking ask to Spitelout."You don't want to know."he tells the lumbers past me, leaving him staring at the trashed ship."Well, I trust you found the nest at least?"I ask Stoick."Not even close."he said."Ah. Excellent."I say.I follows Stoick up the ramp and snags his duffel bag with my hook appendage, sharing the burden."I hope you had a little more success than me."he ask me."Well, if by success, you mean that your parenting troubles are over with, then... yes."I say to him making him stop and turn to me."What does that mean?"he ask confused.A group of merry villagers rush past.
"Congratulations Stoick! Everyone is so relieved." a viking says."Out with the old and in with the new, right?!"another one ask."No one will miss that old nuisance!"yet another one say to us and continues "The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"
Stoick is stunned, overwhelmed by the insensitivity. He turns to me."He's... gone?"he ask me shocked."Yeah...most afternoons. But who can blame him? I mean the life of a celebrity is very rough. He can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by his new fans."I tell him to cheer him up, making him double confused."Hiccup?"he ask.
"Who would've thought, eh? He has this...way with the beasts." I tell him.
SKY - AFTERNOON Hiccup pov
Toothless and me soar through a perfect blue clouds rise like mountains. The ground seems miles below them."Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow."I tell him.I check a leather cheat sheet, clipped onto my harness. Inscribed upon it are several tail positions and their pedal position equivalents."Here we go. Here we go...position three, no four."I say to myself and press the pedal, causing the tail to flare. We roll off into an arching bank, gloriously lit by the late afternoon sun.I tuck tight against Toothless's neck, thrilled that me new harness and vest are holding. The foot controls make the tail appendage quick and responsive. I watch Toothless' every fluctuation, trying to match it with the prosthetic.I size up a target - a towering arch of stone, rising from the sea."Alright, it's go time. It's go time." I say and we dive toward it, lining up to pass through the arch."Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!"I say to zip through the arch. A perfect maneuver."Yeah! Yes, it worked!"I say triumphal,just before we smack into one of several sea stacks. I tries to keep up with the turns."Sorry." I say to Toothless as we hurdle into another rock pillar. Toothless grumbles.
"My fault."I say wich earns me a swat of Toothless with his 'ear' plate."Yeah, yeah, I'm on it."I say. "Position four, no three."I say after looking on my cheat sheet. We pierce the clouds. For the first time, I can see the whole of the island below us. It shrinks with every passing second. I swallow hard and tightens my grip on the handles.
"Yeah! Go baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my..." I say but I am cut of when the sheet is teared of the leather guide in the turbulence."...cheat sheet,stop!" I yell as I grab frantically for the airborne sheet... and grab before it's carried out of reach."No!"I shout when Toothless obeys the command and suddenly stops beating his wings. As we slow to a stop, I go weightless. The rings of my vest float off of the harness hooks. I suddenly finds myself detached and free-falling.
"Oh gods! Oh no!" I me, the tail loses control. Toothless and me spiral downward. Toothless fights to get back under me but is as terrified as I am."Alright, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself. No, no...come back down towards me. Come back down-"I say as I try to calm Toothless down and I extend my arms and legs, giving myself as much surface area as I can. Ie angle back towards Toothless as the tumbling dragon whacks me with his wing.
After a few more misses,I finally grab hold of the harness and manages to lock in - just in time to pull Toothless out of his dive... barely shy of the tree tops. We careen past the wooded cliff and directly into a treacherous slalom course of jutting sea stacks.I pull the cheat sheet from my teeth and attempt to check positions. It flaps violently in the turbulence, making it impossible.
With no time to think, I throw it away and steer Toothless' tail on instinct... with perfect , we manage a tight, hair-rasing series of split-second turns, making it to the open water, unscathed.I take a breath and glance back at the death-defying obstacle course, now safely behind us. I beam, relieved.I sit back and throw my arms up in victory."yeeahhh!"I shout and Toothless concurs with a happy squeal and a glee turn to dread as we fly directly into it."Ah, come on."I say with a you-got-to-be-kidding tone
BLACK SAND BEACH - SUNSET
Me and Toothless lounge on a sprawling, deserted beach,snacking of freshly caught fish. As I cook mine over a fire, Toothless suddenly regurgitates a fish head.I smirk with forced politeness."Uh..no thanks."I say to him while pointing at the fish that is on a stick."I'm good."
Several Terrible Terrors land like seagulls, hissing and nipping at each other as they approach Toothless' pile of fish. One grabs the regurgitated fish head and drags it away. Another attempts to steal it from him. They face off and blast fire balls at each other to settle the fight. We watch, amused. That is until... Toothless spots one of his fish leaving the pile. A stealthy Terrible Terror is exposed as the thief. They tug on the fish, and it snaps back into Toothless' mouth. He swallows it back tauntingly. Irate, the little dragon paws at the ground and blast Toothless. He opens his mouth, the gas hiss comes, and Toothless fires a tiny flame straight into its mouth, causing the gas to backfire into the little dragon. It coughs up smoke and staggers away, looking ill. I laugh "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" and I throw the hapless Terror my freshly cooked fish."Here you go." I tell appreciative little dragon gulps down the meal and approaches me cautiously. He curls up next to him. I am amazed.
"Everything we know about you guys is wrong."I say
Well I am back. School has started again,but you all can expect a ton off chapters next. I found the script of the film online and I use it now to speed up the sure is faster than pausing the film after every sentence they say.I will also use their place markings to make it easier to read.
If you have tips on how I can Improve how it's written then please leave a review.