The citizens of Berk were all gathered around the ring later that day, with bright banners depicting dragon fighting hanging all around.
Coming up to the front of the crowd, Stoick laughed, "Well, I can show my face in public again!" The crowd cheered.
Holding up a hand to silence the crowd, he continued. "If somebody told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from… well, being, uh… Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training? Well, I would have tied him to a mast, and shipped him off, for he'd have gone mad!" The crowd laughed and cheered again. "And you know it! But, here we are. No one's more surprised, or more proud, than I am."
I could hear his words as I stood in the entrance to the ring. "Today," he said, "my boy becomes a viking! Today, he becomes one of us!" The crowd cheered louder than ever.
"Be careful with that dragon," Astrid said, coming up behind me.
Watching my dad come to the edge of the ring, I responded, "It's not the dragon I'm worried about."
"What're you going to do?"
"Put an end to this. I have to try. Astrid, if something… goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless."
"I will," she promised. "Just, promise me it won't go wrong."
Just then, Gobber rounded the corner. "It's time, Hiccup," he said. "Knock 'im dead."
To the crowd's chants of "Hiccup, Hiccup!" I entered the ring. Slowly, I placed my helmet on my head as the portcullis swung shut behind me. I made my way to the weapons rack in the middle. I grabbed a shield and a small knife.
Taking a deep breath, I said, "I'm ready."
The huge bolt slowly rose from the last cage, the one that hadn't been opened yet. As soon as the pulleys fully removed the bolt, a Monstrous Nightmare sprang out, angry. It was covered in fire; fire so hot, it set the heavy wooden doors aflame just by being near them.
It climbed all around the chains that formed the top of the arena, breathing fire out at the townspeople. Its fire died away, revealing a pattern of red, orange and black; a terrifying sight.
It snarled as it climbed down, trying to corner me. The crowd was quiet except for a few people yelling encouragements to me. The excitement was intense.
As I backed away from the dragon, I held my knife and the shield off to the sides. I dropped them – first the knife, then the shield. I heard some people saying that it was madness.
The Monstrous Nightmare continued to snarl at me. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay," I reassured it.
Removing my helmet, kept eye contact with the dragon as I said, "I'm not one of them." I tossed the helmet to the side. The crowd gasped.
Stoick rose. "Stop the fight," he ordered.
"No!" I said. "I need you all to see this." Raising my hand to make contact with the dragon, I went on, "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
"I said stop the fight," Stoick boomed, using his hammer to smash the side of the arena's cover.
The dragon, terrified by the noise, roared and began to breathe fire again.
Yelling in terror, I dashed away. "Hiccup!" Astrid called from the other side of the portcullis.
"Out of my way!" Stoick yelled, making his way down. Astrid used a huge battle ax to pry open the portcullis just enough to squeeze under.
I had no chance at defending myself against a panicked dragon. Astrid took a hammer and threw it at the dragon, knocking its head to the side for a second. As the dragon chased after her, my dad showed up and ripped open the portcullis all the way. Astrid dashed toward him, and he pulled her to safety. But as I dashed forward, the Monstrous Nightmare shot fire at the wooden frame, blocking my exit. I ran the other way, and was overtaken by the dragon. It used a single, huge claw to hold me down. It was certainly going to be my last moment.
Without warning, there was a Night Fury call. Toothless came bounding through the crowd. How he got out of the cove, I will never know. He shot a plasma blast and instantly melted a large part of the cage around the arena. He jumped through and engaged the Monstrous Nightmare.
"Night Fury!" Gobber marveled from outside the ring.
Toothless pushed the Monstrous Nightmare away, staying between me and it. The Nightmare sunk into the corner in defeat.
Just then, the other vikings started to jump into the ring, ready to fight Toothless. They didn't know him. All they knew was that he was a Night Fury, the most feared and destructive of all dragons. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. And he was at a disadvantage.
"Go, go!" I yelled, trying to push Toothless away. He had to run, or he'd be captured, or worse, killed.
Stoick grabbed a battle ax and joined the charge. "No, Dad. Dad, he won't hurt you!" I shouted.
"Don't. No, no, don't, you're only making it worse," I cried as Toothless knocked vikings aside.
He sprang onto Stoick. "Toothless, stop," I yelled as he get ready to fire a deadly plasma blast at my dad. "No. No!" I yelled. Toothless stopped and looked at me obediently.
"Get him!" a man yelled.
At that exact second, a Terrible Terror flew through the crowd toward me. It was the same one that was in my room that morning. It startled a little girl somewhere in the crowd. A high-pitched scream sounded, drawing everyone's attention away from me and Toothless.
Using that split-second distraction, I jumped onto Toothless's back. Safely seated in the saddle, I moved my foot in the stirrup, opening his tail fin. We flew up to the top of the cage over the arena, hovering over it.
"Hiccup! What are you doing?" Stoick demanded in shock. I watched the other teens' faces as they gaped and gawked. Astrid stood, staring in worry.
"I'm putting an end to this!" I declared. "No more of this fighting, dragons against man. We cam all live together. Please. Listen to me!" I pleaded. The crowd hushed.
Looking down, I saw my dad's face harden. "Your mother was killed by a dragon, and you want to live with them?" he bellowed. "Are you out of your mind, boy?"
"They aren't the monsters you know them as. Why won't you listen? Can you not hear me?!"
"All I hear," Stoick said, "is someone who was nearly killed by a dragon just a minute ago, trying to keep one as a pet!" His voice shook with anger. "It's your choice: stay with your tribe, or stay with the fiends you call your friends."
"I can't abandon the dragons, Dad, please!"
He set his jaw firmly. "No son of mine befriends the beasts which killed his mother. You are not my son." He walked away through the crowd, not looking back.
Those words bounced around in my head as I saw the villagers scowling at me. They were too afraid of Toothless to attack me, but their cold, angry expressions showed that they would if they had the chance. They would stand by their chief.
All except for two people looked that way. Astrid looked terrified, and Gobber… Gobber looked sad. Disappointed.
"You are not my son… you are not my son..." Those words ate at me. I wasn't welcome here. It was a choice between my people… or the dragons.
But, as I had told the Monstrous Nightmare, I wasn't one of them. I wasn't a dragon killer.
"Toothless, plasma blasts! Take out those doors!" I told him. Toothless blasted the locks on all the cages. The dragons held prisoner in the arena flew to freedom.
With tears threatening to roll down my cheeks, I took one last look at Berk.
"Goodbye… Dad," I whispered softly.
With that, I leaned forward. "Let's go, Bud." We shot forward, leaving vapor behind, whistling from due to sheer speed. I couldn't return.
Ever.