Chapter 2

FADE IN:

EXT. NORTH SEA/VILLAGE - NIGHT

We skim above a dark, wild ocean. The camera turns toward a lone island, Berk. It is a gigantic shard of rock jutting straight out of the water.

HICCUP (V.O.)

This, is Berk. It's twelve days North of hopeless, and a few degrees South of freezing to death. It'slocated solidly on the meridian of misery.

The camera drifts over rolling hills to reveal a small village nestled on an outcropping of sea mounts.

The villagers looked alarmed. That was Hiccup's voice! What was it doing up there? The teens, situated in the middle of the rows of chairs, along with Ali chuckled slightly at Hiccup's blunt description of their island. Hiccup smiled slightly at the back of the room, appreciating how his sarcastic humor had actually made someone laugh.

HICCUP (V.O.) (CONT'D)

My village. In a word, sturdy. And it's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new.

The camera drifts closer, circling.

HICCUP (V.O.) (CONT'D)

We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitos. We have...

Sheep graze peacefully on a hillside. Suddenly one is snatched.

The older Vikings chuckled; they knew the sheep were greedy.

CUT TO:

INT. STOICK'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

A door is pulled open... as a DRAGON swoops directly toward it, BLASTING FIRE. The door is SLAMMED. The fire shoots through the slats of wood, illuminating HICCUP, a gangly teenage Viking.

HICCUP:...dragons.

The Vikings stared in silence, surprised at what they were watching. Were they witnessing another dragon raid on the screen? The dragons perk up in the back, interested to see one of their kind on the screen.

EXT. STOICK'S HOUSE

He reopens the sizzling door, as leaps off of the front porch. He weaves through the erupting mayhem as Vikings pour out of the buildings, ready for a fight.

HICCUP (V.O.)

Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.

Vikings sound the alarm. Viking men and women pour out into the streets, axes in hand. ON HICCUP darting through alleys, staying under eaves, making his way through the battle.

Hiccup groaned, remembering this night clearly. He had caused so much chaos and disappointed his dad again, much to the delight of the teens who teased him every day. Ali, who was standing next to Hiccup patted him on the back in comfort. The Vikings also groaned, knowing that nothing good happened whenever Hiccup stepped out of the house during a dragon raid.

Ali said, "I'm amazed that you were able to move that quickly." Hiccup said, "Being small has its perks." Ali laughed, "I can see that."

HICCUP (V.O.) (CONT'D)

My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.

Dragons sweep back and forth, dodging axes and blasting the Vikings who throw them. A burly warrior gets tossed in an explosion, knocking Hiccup to the ground.

VIKING (FIERCE): Arggghhhhh! (cheery, insane) Mornin'!

Ali said, "Seriously?!" All eyes turned to said Viking blushed and said, "Oops. Sorry, just woke up." The Vikings laughed as Ali rolled her eyes.

Hiccup gets to his feet and continues to rush past gigantic men and women.

HICCUP (V.O.)

Meet the neighbors. Hoark the Haggard...

HOARK: What are you doing out!?

HICCUP: ... Burnthair the Broad...

BURNTHAIR: Get inside!

HICCUP: ... Phlegma the Fierce...

PHLEGMA THE FIERCE: Get back inside!

Members of the crowd shook their head as they saw Hiccup continuously forge onward, ignoring the warnings of the older villagers.

HICCUP: Ack.

He passes a silent ox of a Viking, picking his ear.

Enter STOICK, the biggest Viking of all. He yanks Hiccup from the path of a strafing dragon and holds aloft to the crowd.

STOICK: Hiccup!? (accusingly; to the crowd) What is he doing out again?!

(TO HICCUP): What are you doing out?! Get inside!

Ali said, "What? And let him die in flames?! Did you not see the fire? Had he stayed in that house, he would have been dead! Don't you think you would have lost him, if a dragon burned the house to the ground, wise guy?" Hiccup said, "Finally! Someone here makes sense!" Stoick felt ashamed as Ali made a good reason on his idea of keeping Hiccup safe. Snotlout smiled evilly thinking of burning Hiccup's house the next time with him locked in.

The flames light up his scowling face and matted red beard. He sets Hiccup down and turns to the sky, searching.

HICCUP (V.O.)

(IN AWE) That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders. Do I believe it?

Stoick grabs a wooden cart and hurls it, knocking the strafing dragon out of the sky.

HICCUP (V.O.) (CONT'D)

Yes I do.

An EXPLOSION forces Vikings to DUCK. Stoick stands firm, brushing flaming debris off of his shoulder.

Stoick, one of the Vikings to be sitting front row, chuckled at the rumor regarding his immense strength. A crowd of Vikings joined in, finding Hiccup's admiration for his dad cute.

Ali looked disgusted at the rumor, thinking it was dumb and completely exaggerated, babies cannot be that strong to kill, heck they can't barely talk or walk. She turned to find a familiar dragon as she walked away. Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, a little nervous that his thoughts were being projected to the entire village and dragon community. He anxiously thought back to moments when he's thought of anything embarrassing. He immediately recalled Astrid recently pecking him on the cheek after the discovery of the Red Death and blushed.

STOICK: (barking; to his men) What have we got?

VIKING #1: Gronkles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare.

STOICK: Any Night Furies?

VIKING #1: None so far.

STOICK: (RELIEVED) Good.

At the mention of the phrase "Night Fury", Hiccup perked up. Where was the girl with Toothless? Almost instantaneously, Hiccup felt a slight nudge against the back of his head. Turning around, emerald green eyes stared back into forest green eyes and on top sat Ali and she asked pointing down on Toothless, "Looking for him?" With a grin, Hiccup silently nuzzled Toothless while Ali got off the saddle. Hiccup slowly made his way so that he could situate himself against Toothless rather than the cold exterior of the chair with Ali sitting on Hiccup's chair. Back in the comforts of his best friend, Hiccup relaxed and felt any lingering fears regarding the backlash of his village fading away. Whatever the consequences, he and Toothless would face it together.

Not wanting to miss anything, Ali asked, "May I?" Hiccup allowed it as Ali took a hand and said, "He's so beautiful. He's even wonderful in person and up close." Agreeing with her, Toothless purred and connected his snout on her hand. She gave the dragon a nice scratch as she giggled as she said, "You're lucky to have someone like him around, wish I had that. It's no fun when you are here alone." Ali glumly took her seat with Hiccup feeling sorry for her. And he asked, "How would you like a dragon of your own? I can help you train it if you want." Ali beamed and begged, "Oh yes, please."

The dragons, noticing the friendly interaction between the humans and legendary Night Fury, eyed the pair curiously. Maybe some humans weren't so bad after all.