A couple weeks later, Nina, it was apparent, was Hiccup's only friend his age, sticking up for him when the others picked on him.
"Well it's true! He is useless!" Snotlout announced.
Nina gave him a nasty glare. "He's just smart. Probably the smartest one in the entire village," she snapped.
"Who needs to be smart to be a Viking?" Fishlegs' eyes lowered and pain flickered across his face briefly. Astrid noticed and hit Snotlout.
"Without smarts we wouldn't survive. We'd eat raw meat, be swimming across vast oceans without boats, and we'd be sleeping in caves, freezing to death. Without someone being smart, we wouldn't have cooked mutton, boats, houses, or fire. So you tell me, Snotlout," Nina said, anger blazing in her voice, leaning toward him threateningly as she spoke. "Who needs to be smart to be a Viking?" She glared at him, unblinking, until he backed off.
"Okay, fine," he grumbled, not looking at her. "You win, being smart can be useful."
"Much better," she said, her tone calming down. Without looking at him, she told Hiccup, "C'mon, Hiccup. Let's get away from these guys. They're nothing but trouble."