How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization
Chapter 5:Hiccup's Dragon Mentor; An Impasse Between Human and Dragon
Later at Dusk
Berk Coast Watchtower
Hiccup had returned to Berk village afterwards, feeling a bit more chipper due to the connection he and his new friend, Toothless, had found. But that would just have to remain as a secret; if anyone else found about their friendship, bit trouble would be in store for the two. But for now, he was gonna enjoy the night for now. Well, at least try to enjoy it. Tonight, Gobber had invited the young Viking dragon slayer trainees for a dusk bonfire feast, in honor of a successful training week. The Success: there were no casualties, including Hiccup. However, the rough part for Hiccup, as he waited for his fish to cook, was having to listen to one of Gobber's old dragon hunting stories.
"… Took my hand, and swallowed it whole," Gobber told his students, while roasting a chicken on the open bon fire with his makeshift shiscabob hand. "And I could read what he said by the look on his face: I was delicious. Well, he must've passed the word, for it wasn't until a month later, when another came by," then he pointed to his peg leg as he finished, "… and took my leg."
The students, minus Hiccup and surprisingly Astrid, were all in awe at the veteran Viking's tale.
"Isn't it weird? I mean to think that your hand was inside a dragon," Fishlegs began as he stated, motioning his drumsticks, "Like if your mind was still in control of it, then you could've killed that dragon just by crushing its heart, or something."
The teens looked at their RPG lingo-slanging comrade with dumbfounded gazes. The only ones who didn't look at him as such, was Hiccup, who was picking at his fish. He was still lost in thought, thinking about Toothless, and to figure out his dysfunctional flying problems.
"I swear, I'm so angry right now," snarled Snotlout as he glared at his still cooking chicken. He then looked to Gobber as he swore, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and foot! I'll rip the legs of every dragon I slay… with my own face!!!"
Gobber chuckled as he tore the wings off his chicken, and made an excellent piece of advice to all the Vikings, "Na-Ah, Snotlout. It's the wings and the tail fins you need to rip off. Without them, they either can't fly or they can't steer while in flight." when Gobber said that, Hiccup immediately perked up, absorbing that information, as the Viking finished, "Remember: a Downed Dragon… is a Dead Dragon."
Hiccup took that in very deeply, and felt even more responsible for when he shot down Toothless. Now he knew why the Night Fury couldn't get out of the canyon. The bolas that he shot must've somehow shredded the left tail fin, and in the process, caused an imbalance in Toothless's flying capabilities. Now… now, he had to think of a way to restore it back to him.
"Hey, Hiccup," Syn called out, getting the blacksmith apprentice's attention, "Hey, you alive on us?"
"Huh?" he asked, getting out of his rut as he answered, "Yeah, uh… well, I…" Not wanting to talk about it, he had just gotten an idea. He turned to Gobber and popped out, "Hey, Gobber. Why don't you tell us about the time you and Dad swam the Serpent's Pass."
"Oh, that's a good story," Gobber stated out as he turned to the students, "That's when Stoick and I had fought about eleven Sea Dragons that tried to gobble us up after a five-day swimming contest." But he stopped as he scratched his chin, "Or was it nine Sea Dragons?"
Syn leaned close to Fishlegs as she whispered, "Last time I heard this story, he said there were five." She then turned towards Hiccup's direction as she asked, "Isn't that right?" But then, she noticed that Hiccup was gone, and looked around, "Where'd he go?"
"Man, I'm hopin' to fight the Nightmare in the ring," Tuffnut replied, leaning back to relax. "It's my destiny to fight one. See?" he then lifted his arm, showing an unknown mark to Fishlegs.
"Whoa," the large teen Viking was struck in awe, "When'd you get a tattoo?"
"It's a birthmark," Tuffnut monotonely commented.
"I've known you for sixteen years," Ruffnut replied, not believing one word of it, "I've been stuck with you since birth, and I've never seen that."
As the twins were continuing their argument, Astrid heard creaking footsteps from the watch post's stairwell. She got up, and walked to it to see who was walking up, or down. Hiccup's retreating form was seen making his way down the stairs, as the female Viking looked at his disappearing form in confusion and suspicion. Her eyes squinted in silent thought about it, but shrugged as she told herself, "Why do I care what that weakling coward does?" she then turned back to the fire as she huffed, "It's not like he's got anything special to do."
Lat that Night
Gobber's Blacksmith House
The light was on in the blacksmith shop, as Hiccup began to get to work now. He brought out his note/sketchbook, as well as a few well done doodles of Toothless. He immediately opened up the book to the page, detailing a diagram picture of the Night Fury, Toothless. He took his pencil and studied the tail fins very carefully, and then began to sketch a design on a bigger sheet of paper. After he was done sketching and looked over the blueprints, he nodded to himself and began to get to work.
Hiccup started the coals and the furnace, heating the fires as he began the next step. He heated up a slab of metal, and when it was soft enough, he brought it over to beat it into the desired shape he had in mind. He dunked the shape in the water and proceeded to the next one. He then began to take apart a few Viking shields that weren't salvageable, and proceeded to melt, mold, and cool down more components… until finally, the object was completed.
It was an exact replica prosthetic of a tail fin for a Night Fury. Hiccup folded the artificial fin and out, making sure that he had been very detailed on this little piece of equipment. Five steel bone spikes attached to a brown piece of cloth, and onto a strap on cloth with two strap bands on it. In truth, it looked very much identical to a part of Toothless's tail.
Hiccup smirked at this accomplishment as he folded it back, and looked at the prints, "He's gonna love this."
He looked around the room, and noticed the old smashed up Bola Cannon. He then looked to the sketches of Toothless as he thought for a moment, and then lit up.
Next Morning
Back in the Night Fury's Hideout
"Toothless," Hiccup called out to his Night Fury friend, as he strode on in, happy as a clown.
He looked around, hoping to find the dragon that he now called friend. Strapped to his back was the artificial tail fin, as well as the newly fixed Bola Cannon, though it appeared to be miniaturized to fit more as a rifle, and dragging him, was a large basket, full of something else. He continued to look around, thinking that Toothless was hiding from him like he did before. However, that wasn't the case, as he saw Toothless curled up by a rock, relaxing or sleeping at this point. Hiccup couldn't help but smile at this, knowing now that the dragon trusted him.
"Hey, there you are," Hiccup called out with a smile.
This caught Toothless's attention as his ears perked up, looking at the human that came by. He saw that Hiccup was carrying some weird looking thing on his back, and pushing a basket over. Whatever it was, looked to be too much for the boy to just simply carry it over to him. Either that, or the boy wasn't as strong as most Vikings his age should have been.
Hiccup stopped in front of Toothless, as the dragon got up on all fours, and slowly circled the boy in curiosity. "Alright, I brought you something for today," he said as he knocked over the basket, opening it up, and spilling the contents out, as it made a sort of slimy sound. "Okay, that was gross," Hiccup muttered.
Toothless cocked an eyebrow at that comment, but looked as the dragon's face was lit up with delight. It seemed that Hiccup had brought with him a whole basket of fish, each a different variety. In all of his life, the Night Fury had never seen this much different fish clustered together. But in all his life, Toothless had never been given fish at all by any human, except the boy that had stayed and befriended him.
"Let's see," Hiccup started as he set the basket aside, giving a list of the contents of fish. "We've got some salmon, some Icelandic Cod, a few Red Snappers," Hiccup said as he tried to make his way around Toothless as he dug through the fish, making sure he wasn't seen. He was almost there, until he mentioned, "… and one smoked eel."
Immediately, Toothless backed away, snarling at the fish pile. Hiccup stopped from his attempts to fasten the tail fin on, when he heard his dragon snarling like that. But it wasn't the snarl you'd hear out of anger, more like one if you'd hear a dragon cringe in fear. Hiccup arched an eyebrow as he walked to the pile; his face scrunching in concentrated thought as he knelt over the pile of fish. He looked to Toothless, getting as to where he was looking at, and immediately spot it. Sure enough, it was a yellow and black striped eel, as Hiccup picked it up, hanging it for Toothless to see.
The dragon immediately cringed back, halfway bringing his wings out, his ears pulled to the back, and his teeth shooting out as his eyes slit up. Hiccup looked at Toothless and back to the eel, as he asked, "You're afraid of this?" Toothless immediately snarled in fear as he nearly jumped back, when Hiccup slightly let the eel swing. "No, no, it's alright," Not wanting to scare the dragon any further, Hiccup threw the eel away. Immediately, Toothless calmed down and went back to the fish, as he defended, "Yeah, I don't like eel much, either."
Now that the eel was gone, Toothless was free to dig in the fish pile. Hiccup smirked at the scene, and while he was eating the fish, he had the chance to strap on the new tail fin. "Don't you mind me, I'll be back here," Hiccup casually told himself as he knelt down at the end of the tail, "Minding my own business."
He set the artificial fin down, and set it ready to strap on to the finless part of the tail. However, it proved a challenge on to itself, as Toothless moved his tail, twitching it slightly. Hiccup turned to see if Toothless had noticed what he was doing, but thankfully his luck held out. The dragon was more focused on eating the fish than anything else, even as he dunked his head into the basket to eat a fish he had spotted there.
As he saw this, Hiccup decided to hop on top of the tail, to keep it from swinging around. Now that he was on it, it refused to swing around, giving him the chance to fasten the fin on. He pulled it over, and positioned it correctly in parallel with the real fin. As Hiccup strapped the tail, on, Toothless rose up; the basket falling off his face as he felt something at his tail. He turned his head sideways, to see what was going on and saw Hiccup. He pulled back to the front; his eyes going wide and his ears pulled back.
As Hiccup made the final fastening on the belts, he sighed in success as he sat up to look at his handiwork.. The Viking boy was completely unaware of the Night Fury's wings, slowly folding out and stretching to the sides, almost as if he was about to take off.
"Alright," Hiccup reassured himself as he opened the tail fin, and examined it with the real one. They were almost completely identical, save for the fact that the artificial one was brown instead of black. Hiccup crossed his arm as he stroked his chin in accomplishment, "That's not too bad. It'll work, if I can see it in…"
Suddenly, Toothless shot up in the air, taking a startled and yelling in a panic Hiccup, as he grabbed onto the tail, holding for dear life. The dragon soared above the lake, making its way to the other side of the hidden canyon. So far, Toothless wasn't crashing, due to the fact that he hadn't change directions yet. Hiccup was holding on to dear life, until he noticed the tail fin he made had folded back, due to the rushing wing. He reached out, nearly stretching his arm out, and grabbed it, pulling it open.
The dragon then pulled out as he attempted to fly out of the canyon unfortunately, Toothless was on the verge of taking a rather nasty nose dive, knowing it was gonna crash again. But the moment that Hiccup opened the artificial fin… he pulled up from the nosedive and into the air, without even crashing into a tree or the ground at all. The dragon roared out in joy; it could fly again now.
The two were soaring in through the skies, flying overhead off in another direction, with Hiccup still hanging onto the tail. If Hiccup had a better place to sit down, he'd be amazed by the view when he looked down. In all his life, he had seen Berk on top of a cliff with his father once, but he never saw it like this before. It was, for a lack of a better word for the now smiling, slack-jawed Viking: Amazing.
Toothless flew down, to where a waterfall was, feeding into a river stream. He and Hiccup glided over the calm water, not even touching or disturbing the water at all.
Hiccup smirked at all this, knowing that the fin worked as he hollered in joy, "Yeah, it's working! I did it, I did it!"
Toothless heard the voice from behind him, and looked under to see Hiccup. The dragon furrowed his frown, and decided to get rid of the boy. He had made a sharp turn away from the waterfall; this caused hiccup to get thrown off as he skidded on the water's surface, until finally crashing into it, nearly fifteen feet away from the massive waterfall. However, as Toothless was about to fly away, the tail fin snapped closed again. The dragon tried to keep its balance, but to no avail as it crashed into the water.
Toothless resurfaced from the water, realizing it was only knee deep, even for Hiccup as he stood up, and shouted, "Yeah! Alright!"
RAAAAAOOOORRRRWWW!!!
Hiccup's shouts of joy over the success of the tail fin's functions, as he turned around freaked out, facing the waterfall. Even Toothless seemed freaked out as well as his ears folded back, snarling at the cave. The young Viking gulped, knowing full well that wasn't Toothless, nor was it any of the other dragons he knew about. This roar… it sounded much larger… for a larger dragon.
But the thoughts of what that was were pushed aside, as something shot out of the waterfall, smacking into Hiccup. He was thrown back to Toothless, as the dragon scooted over the side, to let Hiccup crash. The dragon walked back to him, as Hiccup groaned getting back up.
"That's all that's left of the last dragon slayer that tangled with me," a large Scottish male voice bellowed from behind the waterfall. "If I were you… I'd leave the Night Fury alone, and quit while you're ahead!"
Hiccup cocked an eyebrow as he looked in his lap. He found an object resembling that of a cannon ball, as he picked it up. Though it was no cannon ball… it was a wrinkled up rotting human head, with a roman helmet on top. Immediately, Hiccup nearly screamed out in terror as he tossed the head aside, and looked in front of him, to see the rest of the carcass that belonged to the boy, as well as still on the dead horse he had rode on.
Both Hiccup and Toothless jumped up and away, both freaking out by this. Hiccup reached from behind him, still having the bola rifle at the ready. Unfortunately, he had pulled the bite lever that was designed for Toothless, and it immediately fired. The bolas fired right into the waterfall and through it, pulling with it a cable to attach them to the rifle.
Both Toothless and Hiccup gulped, but Toothless turned a furrowed gaze to the boy, almost scolding him for what he did. All Hiccup said at this moment, was a low monotone, "Oh crud."
"HA!" the voice bellowed, "Is that the best you can do?"
Deciding not to provoke whoever owned the voice, Hiccup reasoned out, "Look, I don't know what you think," and gestured to Toothless, "But I'm not gonna hurt my dragon."
"A likely excuse," the voice shot out, not believing him, "I've got a collection of dragon slayers, Vikings, or knights that tried to fool me the same way. They all ended up dead and mantled in here as a pile of corpses. So if you don't want to join them, GET LOST!!!"
"I'm not leaving him here!"
Silence washed over the three, save for the water hitting the river. Then finally, Hiccup heard a small growl grow from the water fall, as both he and Toothless were getting a bit unnerved by it. The growl intensified, becoming louder by the second, making Hiccup nearly pale in fear, feeling that his heart could stop at any time. Now the growl was seething with an angered rage, the likes of which that couldn't even match his father's now.
Then finally, that voice came back out, sounding rather calm, "Alright, then. If you want to be stubborn about this, then I'll show you how costly your 'friendship' will be, boy!"
The waterfall erupted, as an even bigger object shot out of it and landed on the ground. As Hiccup had time to see, he was bared witness, as he and Toothless saw in front of them both, an old-fashion and very large Western Dragon, possibly Celtic, and colored in a magnificent scaly coat of sun yellow scales. The dragon couldn't have been more than twenty-five feet on the height level and sixty feet in length from nose to tail, and its wingspan was probably 35 or 50 feet long, stretching out as far as to almost match the wings of a plane. It had an elongated neck, as did most dragons, and a crown of horns adorning its head; two massive ones in the back, two on each sides of the head, and one on the end of each eyebrow. Its yellow catlike eyes, much like the Night Fury that he saw, but no nose horn either. Its hind legs were powerful looking, as was its forearms, hands and feet that could ensnare a human down, and all four limbs had four clawed appendages that the bone structure was resemblance to a human's. going down his neck and ending at its tail, were lined up perfectly rows of spikes, and an open portion on the middle of its back, almost as if someone could sit or stand there. On its back and neck, going all the way down to the tail, as well as forearms, thighs, and tail, as well as its helmet styled head, brown armored plating scales were there.. It had a noble and honorable aura around it, even if it was a dragon. And in Hiccup's astonishment replacing the fear in him, he knew of what this dragon was…
"The Golden Fleece," Hiccup whispered, nearly going bug eyed.
The dragon stretched out its massive, sun-blocking wings, and flapped them out, taking flight. It flew over them both, as it began to nearly disappear on them. However, Hiccup heard a sharp whipping sound, as if someone was pulling a rope hard and fast. It wasn't until it was too late, that he realized as he looked at the Bola Rifle, that the spool of rope he attached to it, was being pulled as fast as the dragon was disappearing. Immediately, he tried to get it off, the strap tangled up with him, but it wasn't fast enough.
The rope reached the end of the spool, tied into it, and snapped as it, the rifle, and a screaming Hiccup were pulled off the ground, flying twenty feet off the ground. He was being pulled away by the dragon's retreating form, as Hiccup shouted, "TOOTHLESS!! HELP!!!"
Just as surprised as Hiccup, the Night Fury flapped its wings to catch up to them. Unfortunately, the artificial tail fin was still closed, so when he tried to turn, he fell back down on the ground. Toothless looked behind him and saw the tail fin closed; the dragon huffed at this turn of events. Though sucking it up, Toothless decided if id couldn't fly after them, he could at least keep up with them on the ground, as he sprinted after them, as fast as his legs could get to them. The Night Fury just wished Hiccup would be alive in time when he got to where the Golden Fleece was flying to.
Back with Hiccup
The poor boy was hanging on to a thread, or in this case rope, as he grasped onto his rifle, still dangling in the air. The dragon was soaring over the forest, while Hiccup grasped on for dear life. When he was riding on Toothless, it was easy, he was grabbing onto the dragon, where it was safe. But now that he was only grabbing onto the rope that was tied around the dragon's right foot… he was really wishing to get down now. The Golden Fleece felt something tagging on the back of his foot. He turned his head to see what it was, and saw that the bola the boy had shot at him, was wrapped around his ankle, attached to a rope and to the rifle. And surprised enough, the dragon saw that the boy was still holding on to it. The dragon turned its attention to in front of him, and made a powerful right turn, heading to the woods, and nearly swinging the boy into the air for dear life.
"Oh, man. This dragon can't stay in the air forever," Hiccup yelled aloud to himself.
"Well, neither can you," the voice from the cave bellowed out, almost hearing what Hiccup had said.
Hiccup, still confused as to where that voice came from, looked around as he asked himself quietly, "Who's saying that?" but he didn't have time to figure it out as he saw a branch going right at him. Pulling his legs up, he dodge it, but then shouted out to the dragon, "HEY! SLOW DOWN!"
But that didn't happen, as the beast flew over to the forests, taking Hiccup with him. Hiccup screamed in a panic, as the same voice called out, "Come, visit the woods!"
Hiccup was thrown into the forest, all the trees were just crashing points for the boy now. Luckily, he was able to swing himself out of the way, or push against one of each with his feet. He was able to do so, but not for long as it would seem. For when he dodged one of the trees, he smacked into one, and then another, and then one more.
Hiccup groaned to himself, "Oh, it can't get any worse." then, as if the Gods had made him regret those words, Hiccup smashed into a branch… hitting him below the belt, as he gasped for air and groaned, "Yep. It got worse."
Then the voice came up again, chuckling as he called out to him, "How do you like the ride so far?"
Hiccup groaned, "Ugh, this has gotta end."
And his prayers were answered as he saw it coming right for him. Coming right at him, was a tree, branching out two ways, like a fork in the road. Switching out his arm gauntlet, he slipped it on and made the claw movement, causing the blade to shoot out. With it, he cut the arm strap, and grabbed onto the rifle, holding it horizontally. Then he aimed himself for the fork, slamming into the tree, but locking the rifle in between the fork tree itself. The rope snapped, not breaking or flinching at this moment, but pulled at the Golden Fleece, halting it from its flight, and sending the dragon crashing into the ground, plowing down the trees as it came to a halt.
Hiccup slid down the tree, leaning against it as his feet connected to the ground. He held his left side as he groaned out. Then, coming out of the forest, Toothless stopped in his sprint, right next to Hiccup. The young Viking looked to his dragon, halfway exhausted as he groaned, "And where were you?"
The Night Fury cocked an eyebrow and furrowed his eyes, as if to say, 'What, are you kidding me?' to the boy.
Just then, they both heard a large growling groan come from the dragon that had tried to get away. Both boy and dragon, both curious and this time without fear, walked towards the downed beast. They looked as the Golden Fleece was slowly but painfully, getting back up on to his feet. Hiccup, not taking any chanced, clenched his right fist, causing the blade to go back in, and converted it into Shield Mode. As soon as they were close, which was about fifteen feet away from it, Hiccup was just amazed by the sight of it.
"Whoa," Hiccup exclaimed as the beast was slowly getting back to its feet, "I-I read the Dragon Manual about this dragon. But I didn't think there were any around left. I mean, the book said they were all extinct."
"They are extinct. Almost." Both heard that very same voice from the cave, but turned their direction to the dragon, as it looked to them… and spoke to them with its moving lips, "I am the last one."
"How…" Hiccup started, not easily grasping this discovery as he weakly said and pointed to the dragon, "… how are you doing that?"
The dragon's ferocity was gone, and replaced with a confused look on his face as he looked to the boy as he got back up, "Doing what?"
"That," Hiccup pointed, freaking out even more, "How are you doing the Talking thing?"
The Dragon shrugged, "Mnn, I don't know," he pointed to Hiccup as he casually answered, "The same way you did: Mama, Dada, Lamb, Fish. After 1200 years, you pick it up."
Hiccup's uneasy freaked out moment was short lived, as a smile was plastered to his face, with excitement, "Wow. I never, not in a long time, would ever think to see a talking dragon."
"And you'll never live long enough to tell anyone, Viking," the Dragon growled as its vicious attitude came back, and it brought its arrowhead-shaped tail tip up for the two to see. Then suddenly, the ends split open to reveal two curved blades on both ends, flexing and shaking like a rattlesnake's tail, as the dragon shouted, "NEVER!!!"
The Fleeced whipped its tail like a mace and a whip all in one, as it brought it crashing down to Hiccup. But Toothless flipped the boy onto his back, and sprinted out of that area, as the tail slammed into the ground. The Fleece pulled it out, leaving a fissure in the ground, as it jumped to the side, and swung it at the two like a whip. Toothless crashed to the ground with Hiccup still on, as the tail slashed over them, slashing through a section of the forest, that brought down at least twenty trees.
"Oh, so you're still hiding behind your friendship ruse, eh?" the Golden Fleece asked.
The mighty dragon then inhaled deeply, just as Hiccup saw the dragon's nostrils glow from the inside. And then, with a mighty blow, it unleashed two fire balls, aimed to the far side and back of them both. When both balls struck the ground, two huge flaming explosions erupted from those spots. The blasts were intensely powerful, nearly leveling those sections of the forests into ash piles, as the land that they hit were now barren, smoky, and black and red.
Hiccup, immediately got up, with his shield protecting him, and Toothless's wings wrapped around the dragon for protecting himself. The young Viking brought down his shield as he asked, defiantly to the dragon, "And how do I know that whole extinction bit you pointed out wasn't just a ruse either? How do I know your kind aren't just hiding out?"
The dragon had calmed a bit as he stated, "Haven't you noticed the pickings for the Golden Fleece Dragons are rather slim these days?"
Lowering his guard for the moment, Hiccup nervously pointed out, "My father once told me that my great-grandfather got one of your kind before."
"Your great-grandfather?"
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II," Hiccup answered.
At hearing that name, the dragon snarled as his voice was seethed with anger, "I thought there was something familiar when I sniffed your scent in the air. He was the one that killed the Elder. He and I were the last ones, now there's only me." he then snarled as he taunted, "Tell me, how does it feel to be related to a man that was responsible for wiping out an entire race of dragons, eh? Must be very proud of yourself, decended to a genocidal monster."
"Look, I'm not hear to talk about my family past," Hiccup defended, though he felt a sharp stab from that last sentence from the dragon. "And don't talk about my family like that, buster!"
"No," the Golden Fleece snarled, as it kept its eyes on the boy, "You're just here to kill me and that Night Fury for sport. Or is it just so you could mantle our hearts and our heads in your living room as trophies to show off?"
"Alright, that's taking it too far," Hiccup stated, not liking this conversation at all.
"And when there are no more dragons, of any kind left in the world, how will your people make a living?" the Golden Fleece continued to taunt, circling the boy, not even mentioning the young Viking was walking under the rope that was still tied to his ankle, and stuck on the trees, as he finished taunting, "Maybe you could work as a living crash dummy for ships. You take on punishment pretty well."
"Okay, that's…" Hiccup protested.
But it didn't go far, as the Dragon pulled back his right leg. This caused the rope to snap right up… underneath Hiccup below the belt. Hiccup yelped in a gasping voice, nearly squeaking as a mouse. Toothless saw the whole thing, worried for Hiccup, as the Viking boy was thrown back to the ground.
Hiccup crashed on his back, clutching his 'marble sack' as he groaned aloud, "Ugh. Twice… in one day, Odin?"
The Golden Fleece dragon looked down at Hiccup, who was still flat on his back, clutching below the belt in pain. "Since you seem to be less experienced in combat, allow me to give you a free lesson: Always mind your surroundings, boy. The whole area around you can be used as a weapon to fight your opponents." The dragon growled fiercely and angrily at the boy, as he slunked towards him. But at the last moment, Toothless jumped right in front of him, looking up to him with pleading eyes.
"Fury, get out of my way," the Golden Fleece bellowed his order to the small Night Fury.
As Hiccup was starting to get back on his knees, he saw Toothless in front of him, protecting him from the Golden Fleece. He then looked at the Golden Fleece Dragon, and immediately switched on his arm blade. However, the blade's clicking sound, right before Hiccup could made the clawed finger trigger activate the blade, the Golden Fleece heard that sound. Its attention was then drawn back to the boy, as he shoved Toothless aside, just as the Night Fury watched in horror.
The Golden Fleece reared its head upward, while extending its jaw out, making it big enough to scoop up Hiccup in his maw. When that happened, a pair of cobra-like fangs extended out, making it look even more menacing. The beast then reared its head back, as Hiccup nearly paled at this. Then finally, with a low throat growl, the Golden Fleece roared viciously, just as Toothless was charging in to rescue Hiccup.
But it was too late.
The Golden Fleece pounced forward, making Hiccup shout out in terror, as the fang filled mouth came on top of him. It then scooped him in, with Hiccup in moments of being pierced by the razor sharp teeth. Toothless was running forward, preparing one of his light blue flame shots to fire at the Fleece to release the young boy that had become his first human friend. However, the Night Fury stopped in its tracks, as it took witness to the outcome of the Golden Fleece's attack.
The Golden Fleece's eyes shot wide open, as a surprised grunt came from its throat. It lifted up on all fours, nearly towering over the ten foot Night Fury in its twenty-five feet status. Toothless gazed up at the dragon's opened gnaw mouth, and saw for itself why he had stopped. Hiccup was sitting on the Dragon's tongue, still alive, and pointing the arm gauntlet's blade right on top of the roof of the dragon's mouth.
"If your teeth come down," Hiccup advised as he refused to budge in his tooth-filled trap, "… then this blade goes up… right through your brain!"
Nightfall
Night had finally reached the forest, and both Hiccup and the Golden Fleece had not budged an inch from their spots. The Golden Fleece's jaw had refused to move an inch, while in Hiccup's spot, he remained sitting on the tongue with his arm blade pointing up on the roof of his mouth, waiting to pierce the flesh of the dragon. However, the Dragon was able to mutter, even with his jaw opened and locked in place, "If your sword goes up, then my teeth come down… tearing through your body!"
Meanwhile, watching this battle go on, sitting on the ground and twitching his ears, was Toothless. So far, the two had barely nudged when Hiccup had corned the Fleece with sticking his blade at the roof of the dragon's mouth, threatening to run it through its brain. Toothless just watched, until the dragon let out a large yawn from its gummed mouth. The Night Fury was trying his best, blinking his eyelids open and smacking his lips from the yawn, hoping for some conclusion to this pointless fight.
Hiccup wasn't exactly having the easiest time of his life, sitting in the dragon's open mouth. Sitting on the tongue wasn't the best seat in the house; his pants were becoming damp with the drool, as was his shirt. And the breath that came down the throat, wasn't the most sweet-smelling that you'd want to keep smelling. In truth, Hiccup was having the hardest time right now trying not to either pass out, or vomit in the dragon's mouth.
However, before he could sigh in complaint, he spotted something stuck in the dragon's right molar. Freeing his left hand, Hiccup grabbed it, and with a few tugs, he yanked it out. Thought he wish that he hadn't, as he saw that it was the remains of a dead man's right hand. The flesh had all been gone, leaving tidbits of rotted flesh to the bone, shreds of cloth, and a ring of European design.
Hiccup gulped as he recognized the symbol on the ring, "Thor's Hammer. The Order of the Dragon Slayers." And with that, he threw the limb out.
The Golden Fleece felt the tug, and sighed in relief, "Oh, thank you. That must've been Elgamore the Merciless; he tried to make a name for himself just by hunting me down. It's been stuck in there for almost a year now." the dragon then asked Hiccup, in a more polite tone than his angered on, "Um, say… could you get your buttocks off my tongue?"
Hiccup groaned, feeling fatigue was taking him, "Why should you be comfortable?" He then listed his complaints of this situation, "For one thing, my clothing is sobbing wet with your drool, sharp teeth are nearly poking my back, my arms are getting tired from holding this spot since dusk. And what's even worse, your breath is rancid!"
"Well, what do you expect?" the Dragon pointed out, "With old knights, Vikings, and Dragonslayers remains rotting between my molars." the Dragon then sighed, "Oh Odin, my mouth is so dry."
Then suddenly, Hiccup heard an unnatural roaring sound coming from the Dragon's throat. And then noticed a slight stifle from the dragon's nostrils. The boy paled as he realized what this was: the dragon was gonna gag. "Oh no," Hiccup pleaded, fearing the worst, "No, no, no, no… NO!" And suddenly, the dragon let one out, as suddenly, snot shot up, smacking Hiccup in the face. After taking a moment to let the feeling wash away from him, Hiccup shuttered as he groaned, "Great. Just what I wanted: a slime bath."
"Sorry about that," the Golden Fleece stated, but then spoke out after a moment of silence, "It seems that we're in a bit of a stalemate. Wouldn't you say?"
After Hiccup had finished wiping the snot off his face, he answered, "Yeah. But I can go for two days without sleep. That sorta happened when Gobber and I worked on the village's equipment for two days without sleep." He sighed as he remembered that, "Those were busy days."
"Well, I can go for 2 or 3 weeks without it," the Dragon topped off.
Hiccup groaned aloud as he tried to shake the exhaustion in both his eyes and his arms, "UGH! I'll run you through before I nod off."
"And I'll chomp you," the Dragon chuckled. "Marvelous, we'll kill each other."
"Well, considering you're in a better mood than you were before," Hiccup asked, stretching his left arm out to get the kinks out. "What do you suggest?"
"A temporary truce," the Dragon answered, "You get out of my mouth, then you, me, and the Night Fury can all talk face-to-face."
Hiccup was considering it, but he had to ask, "How do I know you won't try and kill me again?"
"I give you my word," the dragon sighed.
"Considering you're the first Talking Dragon I've ever known," Hiccup stated as he pointed out, "It's kinda hard to go with just your word."
The Dragon groaned as he shouted, "UGH! You're just like your great-grandfather. Albeit you're a bit thin to be his great-grandson, you're a stubborn lout!"
And then without warning, the dragon's tongue left Hiccup's butt, and used it to push the boy out. Hiccup crashed on to the ground, back first, alerting Toothless to finally wake up. But before he could get to him, the Golden Fleece trapped the boy, with his claws pinning him down. Hiccup tried to break free of himself as best he could, but no avail as he groaned out in defeat.
He looked up at the Golden Fleece, who was trying to set his jaw back in place. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked, feeling defeated, "Go ahead and kill me."
Finally setting his jaw back, the Golden Fleece snarled at the boy, "I don't want to kill you. I never did!" He then huffed as he stated, "And I don't want you to kill me or the Night Fury, either. What do we gain from all this? If you kill me, my whole race goes into complete extinction, without even being known that we even existed," he then pointed to Hiccup, "And if I kill you, I wait around for the next fool wanting to carve a name for themselves." The dragon then sighed, "I'm tired of skulking in darkness, and lurking in holes."
"First of all, I wastn trying to kill Toothless," Hiccup stated.
"Toothless?" the Golden Fleece asked.
"The Night Fury over there," Hiccup pointed to, as the dragon looked and saw Toothless, in pounce position, snarling at the Golden Fleece. "And second, I didn't know there were any dragons living in Berk. We just found you out of pure coincidence while we were testing to see if the tail fin I made him worked."
The Dragon didn't seem convinced as he asked more, "Then what was with the bola cannon? People who try to be friendly with dragons wouldn't exactly carry that around, would they?"
"I was gonna make that later on as a gift for Toothless," Hiccup defended, getting the Fury's attention as he listened on. "I wanted him to have that as sort of an extra defense, considering he's got a 5 shot limit."
"Eight," the Fleece replied.
"Wha?" Hiccup asked.
"Night Furies have a shot limit of eight," the Golden Fleece corrected, not sounding convinced.
Hiccup sighed as he finally shouted in frustration, "What is it gonna take for you to believe me, huh?!"
The Golden Fleece was quiet for a moment, glaring and looking at the boy with a cocked eyebrow. Finally he sighed as he lowered down; his jaws nearly reaching his body. Seeing this, Toothless charged forward, roaring, until the Golden Fleece turned his attention to him fast.
"Stand back, Night Fury," the Golden Fleece answered, with a calm tone, as he turned to Hiccup and lowered his snout, "Like I said, I won't kill him."
When he looked at Hiccup, the Viking boy gave him a reassured nod. "It's alright. I'm not too crazy about this, but… " he shifted his gaze to the giant creature standing over him. "If he says he not gonna harm me, I think I can take his word for it." Then as if reassurance washed on the dragon, Toothless backed away for a moment.
The Golden Fleece closed his eyes, as he positioned his nostrils over Hiccup's still trapped form, and took in a huge whiff. The young Viking could feel his body being pulled towards the large nostrils, as they sucked in the various smell that permeated his flesh. For a long time, the barren and charred forest all around them remained in a state of dead silence as the Golden Fleece studied the young Viking's scent. His sharp teeth clattered as he quietly gnashed his elongated maw. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of silence had passed, the dragon lifted his head back up. And he immediately lifted his claw, letting Hiccup go as he got up, and was joined by Toothless, who stood by his side.
The Dragon then sat down, laying on his stomach with his arms perching him up. He looked to the unlikely duo, and with a calm tone, he stated, "Well then, let's hear your story."
An Hour Later
Hiccup and Toothless were sitting by a rock parallel to the Golden Fleece at this very moment. Hiccup was sitting comfortably on the rock, as Toothless rested by his side, resting comfortably on a burn bed in the ground that he had made. Hiccup had illuminated on the week's experiences with the Golden Fleece about the situation with him and Toothless. The story was a bit too hard to swallow for the mighty dragon to grasp. It wasn't every day that you learn that a human had become friends with a dragon. In the truth of it all, the Golden Fleece seemed to believe it all.
"A human befriending a dragon," he stated as he chuckled at this notion, a small grin on his face, "Now I've seen everything." he then pointed to Hiccup as he defended, "Though it does seem rather believable… seeing as how you didn't want to kill him, it was pretty obvious that you didn't want to kill me either, now that I realize it."
Hiccup perked up from that and asked, "Wait! You knew that I wasn't trying to kill you!" he then bolted from his sitting position as he asked, "Well, how do you know that?"
"Because you didn't go for this," the Golden Fleece stated as he pointed to the point of his neck where his throat connected to his chest. There, plainly easy to see and as big as a human's head, a diamond shaped piece of vulnerable flesh was there. "This… is where my heart is," the Fleece stated as he looked to the boy, "You're an intelligent young man; you knew where to strike me this whole time, and yet you try and stab my brain."
Hiccup sighed at this as his shoulders slouched in defeat, "That obvious?"
"Pretty much," the Golden Fleece answered, but then looked to Toothless as he asked, "So why the friendship? If indeed you are Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the II's great-grandson… why all this then?"
Hiccup seemed quiet himself a bit, trying to think of an answer for that. He looked to Hiccup as he thought about it, and then back to face the Golden Fleece. Taking a moment to answer that, with the Golden Fleece eagerly awaiting the boy's answer, Hiccup finally answered, "I guess… nobody in my village's ever been my friend. I mean, Gobber's more of a second father figure, but aside from him, everyone else just sees me as a walking hazard. I'm pretty much an embarrassment to the whole tribe, the whole village… even my own father." the Golden Fleece seemed surprised by that, as Hiccup sighed and turned to look at Toothless, who was gnawing on a piece of smoked wood with his teeth, "He's the only one that actually likes to be around me. The only one I've ever considered as a true friend." Hiccup just sighed as he sadly chuckled to himself, "Out of three hundred years, in Berk's history, I'm the first one out of all of us to ever befriend a dragon. And he ends up being the first friend I've ever had."
The Fleece then seemed a bit taken by that, and turned his gaze giving himself a quick kick in the tail. His mouth scrunched up, feeling more like a jackass than a dragon at this point, bringing a painful subject for the boy to bring out. So he decided to change the subject of the matter at hand to ease the tension. "Well, uh… um, changing the subject. Didn't your father ever teach you to pick your battles wisely? Let alone how to fight at all?" the Golden Fleece asked Hiccup. The boy didn't answer that question, as he just turned away, looking angered and ashamed at the same time. The Fleece even took notice when Toothless tried to get Hiccup to turn around, but the boy refused. It was with a sad frown, obviously knowing that he had struck a harsh nerve, deduced the problem as he asked, "Your father's not the teaching sort, I take it?"
"No, not really," Hiccup replied as he found his rock and sat on it, with Toothless plopping down next to it, as Hiccup finished, "He's more of the 'One-sided conversationalist, disappointed that he didn't get a macho Viking son, locking me inside the house the whole time when there's dragons or danger, and going away and never teaching me anything' sort."
"Oh," the Fleece stated, looking sorry for the young teenager, and to Toothless, who seemed a bit understanding of the boy's problem. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, but hey," Hiccup shrugged as he finished wiping the drool off his gauntlet, "So far, I'm, ah… doin' better."
The Golden Fleece didn't seem to buy it, but was plotting up something, as he looked at the boy with a cocked eyebrow, "Is that so?" he then strode over to the boy, and lowered his head to the boy as he smirked, "Well, since you spared my life, I owe you a Life Debt. For that, I am obliged to help you with anything that you ask me of."
"Anything?" Hiccup asked, sounding rather disbelieving in this. He looked to Toothless, who sat up with his ears twitched, and shot his eyes to the Golden Fleece and back to Hiccup, almost telling him to accept the offer. Deciding to humor him, he sighed as he answered, "Okay, I accept. You can try making me better at Dragon Training; help make me at being a better Viking." But even then Hiccup knew the answer to that; a Dragon helping a human in Dragon Training? It would have been a flat out…
"Very well," the Fleece answered, with a surprised smug look on his face. "I accept."
"Wha?" Hiccup asked, very surprised by this reply.
"I'll train you to be the best Dragon Fighting Viking that ever existed," the Golden Fleece proudly replied, as he gently tapped Hiccup's head with his index claw. "I'll be getting you physically fit, adding some muscle to your toothpick body, as well as pound a few skills and secrets into that sponge you call your brain."
"Wait!" Hiccup tried to refuse this offer, "I never said I …"
"From now on," the Golden Fleece Dragon laid down the rules, "After the Training in your village, we'll meet up at the place you and Toothless stay at. There, I won't let out of my sight, and demand only excellence in your commitment to your request, and only your best in everything else."
"But, you can't…" Hiccup objected.
Then the Golden Fleece smirked as he pointed, with finally slamming his clawed fist on the ground, "Until I feel that you and Toothless are both ready, you won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch/dig into your own bum without my say so."
Finally, Hiccup got fed up, as he looked at the Golden Fleece, both sharply and scolding as he shot out, while standing six inches from the dragon's face, "D-Don't do me any favors!!!"
Toothless just sighed and looked the other way, knowing this conversation was only one-sided at this point.
"Oh, you can be sure of that, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," the Golden Fleece smirked as he lightly nudged him with his wing, "You can be sure of that."
Next Chapter: Dragon Training… and Being Trained by a Dragon; Make a Viking Out of You
For those who are guessing, yes, the Golden Fleece is the dragon from Dragonheart. To me and for this story, he's somewhat like Hiccup's Yoda and for the other Dragons, their Aslan . But when I started this, I felt that, like Gobber is a second father to him, the dragon could also be a Grandfather figure for Hiccup, in supporting him and encouraging his unique traits, while everyone else in the village just scoff at him and don't believe in these things. The Golden Fleece will be a big factor in helping Hiccup become the man that he was destined to be, as well as encourage the friendship between Dragon and Human. And as such, if this dragon was in the movie adaptation, his voice actor would have been Sean Connery.