Chapter 13
The next morning, Hiccup woke up in Toothless' arms, and saw Adina and Ali together asleep. Hiccup smiled at Ali as she stirred. Ali woke up to see Hiccup as she said, "Morning." Ali sat up and yawned as Toothless trilled as Adina rumbled. Ali got off Adina as she asked, "Feeling better?" Hiccup nodded as he asked, "Feeling up for a flight around your village?" Ali corrected, "City and Yes." Dressed up, Hiccup, Toothless, Ali, and Adina ran to the backyard of Ali's house as Ali rode on Adina and Hiccup on Toothless. The Dragons took wing as they flew up. As Ali and Hiccup looked down, they saw tall and small buildings, small patches of grass, hard roads, moving objects, and strange people dressed in strange clothing and with different color skin.
Hiccup asked, "Ali, what is this place?" Ali replied, "My hometown! Sunnyvale, CA! The year 2016! 667 years later!" Hiccup asked, "Where's the chief here?" Ali replied, "The mayor? He's in City Hall! He controls all of Sunnyvale!" Ali explained everything to Hiccup from cars, cities, the history of the world, technology, pets, and the places he has never even heard before. Hiccup was amazed that time has changed.
Returning to Ali's theater room, Stoick saw them land as Ali said, "And that's Sunnyvale!" Hiccup said, "Wow, I never knew that yak isn't seen more often and people can make things by themselves." Ali said, "That's 20th century, Hiccup. All things change. Come on, let's eat!" Hiccup and Ali guided their dragons to the dining hall where they found most of the Vikings awake. Snotlout and the teens shouted at them to come and join in. But Ali and Hiccup walked away to eat with their dragons. Astrid was upset that they refused to sit with them. Stoick stared at them as the two riders feed their dragons their favorite fish. Ali walked to the counter and got them flapjacks and two mugs of milk. Ali came back with their breakfast as they ate their food as Hiccup asked more questions about the future.
After breakfast, everyone went back to the theater room in their respective seating. Ali decided to sit with Hiccup, Adina, and Toothless. Snotlout said, "That girl is somehow brainwashing him, I say we get her!" Fishlegs said, "Stop it! Guys, don't you get it? This is exactly why we are here, something isn't right about us and she is here to fix it." Ruffnut said, "That girl is like making him think that we're the bad guys." Astrid said, "We are the bad guys. We treated Hiccup like trash and we are paying it." Astrid stared at Ali as she walked to her chair with Adina, Toothless, and Hiccup. Hiccup was a bit anxious on finishing the film, after being disowned by his father.
Ali took Hiccup's hand and said, "Do not worry. I have a feeling after this, they will never hurt you like that again." Hiccup turned red at Ali's touch as Ali smiled and said, "After all, you are the hero."
STOICK: (CONT'D) (CALLING OUT) Ready the ships!
EXT. GREAT HALL - CONTINUOUS
Stoick staggers on the steps, breaking inside.
Stoick's heart lurched at the scene, feeling exactly as the Stoick on screen was feeling. How could he have just disowned his son so easily?
Hiccup stared at the screen, noting Stoick's reaction. He felt a sliver of hope burst inside him, thinking that maybe he'll go back and apologize. But as he watched him walk further away, the sliver of hope was gone. Yup, he truly was alone now.
Ali said, "Don't worry."
EXT. DOCKS/OPEN SEA - DAY
Broken-down catapults and trebuchets are bundled up and lowered from the cliffs. Below on the docks, Vikings load the heavy artillery into the hulls of awaiting ships. Children and the elderly gather to on the walkways to wave apprehensive farewells to the departing warriors. Lastly, Toothless is loaded aboard Stoick's ship, chained down to a palette, muzzled, and restrained with a weighty neck ring. He looks exhausted, miserable.
All depression was gone from inside Hiccup, immediately replaced by fierce anger and hatred. Even Ali joined in with Hiccup's anger. How dare they treat Toothless like that? Toothless let out a low growl at the screen, curling around Hiccup protectively. Ali took Adina in her arm protectively.
Astrid, who had been silent through the whole argument between Hiccup and Stoick, stared at the screen in disbelief. She couldn't believe Stoick could do so much to Hiccup to hurt him. Every part of her ached to go find Hiccup and comfort him, but she knew now was not the time.
Stoick crosses to the bow as the ship pushes off and joins the amassed armada of ships adrift in the harbor. Stoick's brow is furrowed, all warmth drained away. He turns west and glares at the horizon with cold determination.
Hiccup stares at the screen with an equal amount of cold determination in his stare. No, he wouldn't let Stoick do this, not if he could help it. He sat restlessly, hoping to the Gods that future Hiccup would do something.
STOICK: Set sail! We head for Helheim's Gate.
He then notices HICCUP watching from his familiar cliff-side perch beyond the village. Their eyes meet, full of hurt and regret. Hiccup slowly shakes his head in warning. Stoick breaks the stare and turns to Toothless, fuming.
STOICK: (CONT'D) Lead us home, Devil.
Hiccup scowled at the word "Devil". Toothless grumbled quietly, wishing that annoying muzzle was off his face so he could blast that man to pieces.
ON HICCUP watching. He's powerless to stop what is happening, but won't leave.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. CLIFFS - LATER ON HICCUP still standing there. The ships have cleared the horizon. CRANE UP to reveal Astrid is standing behind him. She approaches cautiously and stands beside him in silence.
Hiccup and Astrid both registered slight surprise in their eyes. Hiccup fidgeted nervously; was Astrid going to talk to him? After all the chaos he had just caused?
Astrid eyed the screen curiously. What was she going to do? Hopefully comfort him.
ASTRID: It's a mess.
Hiccup doesn't respond.
Astrid stared dubiously. Well, that was blunt.
ASTRID: (CONT'D) You must feel horrible. You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your bestfriend.
Astrid groaned quietly; way to make things worse.
Hiccup sighed. "Thank you for summing that up", he whispered to himself.
HICCUP: Thank you for summing that up.
Hiccup's eyebrows rose. They sure thought alike! Wait, what was he thinking, of course they thought alike; that was him in the future!
HICCUP: (CONT'D) Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods. It would have been better for everyone.
Pain filled Hiccup's eyes. He couldn't believe he had said that! Toothless was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he wished he could've killed him?! Toothless cooed, understanding his rider's distress and wishing he could comfort him.
ASTRID: Yep. The rest of us would have done it. (BEAT) So why didn't you?
Hiccup just shakes his head - he really doesn't know. Astrid's eyes glimmer. She wants something.
ASTRID: (CONT'D) Why didn't you?
HICCUP: I don't know. I couldn't.
Astrid watched the screen thoughtfully. He couldn't? Or wouldn't?
ASTRID: That's not an answer.
HICCUP: (BECOMING IRATE) Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?
ASTRID: Because I want to remember what you say right now.
Ali said, "Jeez, can't you mind your own business?" Astrid glared at Ali as the Viking girl remembered what happened before.
HICCUP: (angry, loud) Oh for the love of - I was a coward! I was weak. I wouldn't kill a dragon.
Stoick stared at the screen, taken aback by Hiccup's outburst. He had never seen him feel this strongly about anything before.
ASTRID: You said 'wouldn't' that time.
Ali thought, Valka wouldn't kill Cloudjumper that night.
HICCUP: (BLOWS UP) Whatever! I wouldn't! Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!
Hiccup's mind instantly raced back to the moment in the Great Hall, where Stoick had muttered about seeing "the signs". Was he truly the only one…?
ASTRID: (A BEAT) First to ride one, though.
Hiccup blinks. He never looked at it that way before.
The villagers blinked in surprise as well. That was true… Quite a legendary feat, actually. They have sense it when he joined Ali on a morning flight.
ASTRID: (CONT'D) So...
HICCUP: (REALIZING) ...I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. (BEAT) I looked at him and I saw myself.
The village and dragons all eyed the screen sympathetically, guilt coursing through many of the Vikings. Were dragons truly as frightened of them as they were of the dragons? The dragons eyed the human appreciatively, happy a human finally wished to befriend them nonviolently.
Ali said, "That could be the greatest thing you have said in a while, Hiccup." Adina purred in agreement. Ali said, "If Stoick was like you, kind, merciful, and selfless, then the war would have ended easily." Stoick looked discouraged, could this girl have known to end the war easily?
Astrid turns to face the open sea.
ASTRID: I bet he's really frightened now. (PROVOKING) What are you going to do about it? (Beat.)
HICCUP: Probably something stupid.
ASTRID: Good. But you've already done that. (Another beat.)
Hiccup smiled, he knew that look in his eyes. He was finally gonna do something, no matter how crazy it was.
HICCUP: Then something crazy.
Astrid smiles.
ASTRID: That's more like it.
Astrid found herself smiling at the screen; this was the Hiccup she grew to like.
EXT. OPEN SEA/DRAGON ISLAND - DAY
The armada coasts toward a shroud of heavy fog, hung like drapes from a low-hanging, ominous sky. The ships enter, one by one. Visibility drops immediately. Flanking ships becomes ghosts. The armada disappears, drawn into the blinding mist. Complete whiteout. Nothing remains but the eerie creaking of wood on water. ON STOICK at the bow of his ship. He taps his fingers on the gunwale, then looks back at Toothless impatiently. Weighed down with chains, Toothless seems unresponsive.
Hiccup grew somber at the sight of Toothless. "I'm so sorry, bud." He whispered miserably. Toothless purred and nudged him gently, assuring him that he was fine.
STOICK: Sound your positions. Stay within earshot.
Shouts pour in from all directions.
ON STOICK straining into the fog as the calls continue. Massive, jagged sea stacks begin to emerge, threatening to rip the ships to shreds. Gobber approaches him, speaking under his breath.
GOBBER: Listen... Stoick... I was overhearing some of the men just now and, well, some of them are wondering what it is we're up to here - not me of course, I know you're always the man with the plan - but some, not me, are wondering if there is in fact a plan at all, what it might be?
Snotlout finally spoke after a period of silence. "You know Gobber, sometimes your acting is as bad as Hiccup's!" Gobber turned slightly red, refusing the respond to the statement.
STOICK: Find the nest and take it.
GOBBER: Ah. Of course. Send them running. The old Viking fall-back. Nice and simple.
Hiccup shook his head; if only it were that simple…
STOICK: Shhh.
Stoick notices that Toothless' ear plates are at the alert, quietly reacting to inaudible sounds. Stoick crosses to the stern of the ship and grabs the tiller, moving the helmsman out of the way.
STOICK: (CONT'D) Step aside.
Stoick pulls the ship into a turn, covertly following Toothless' head movements.
Toothless shifted nervously. He knew what he was responding to, and he didn't want to go near that place again. Hiccup tried to soothe him, but knew exactly what the dragon was thinking and eyed the screen anxiously.
The ship barely misses a jagged outcrop that suddenly appears out of the soupy fog.
VIKING: Bear to port.
The order is called out from ship to ship. CRUNCH! The bow barely makes it past another sea stack. Stoick continues to follow Toothless' cues, undeterred.
EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS - DAY
Hiccup raises the bolt on the Monstrous Nightmare's pen.
FISHLEGS: (O.S.) If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle.
Astrid stared pointedly at Fishlegs, who avoided her stare nervously.
"I was just trying to help" he cried out quietly, causing Astrid to roll her eyes.
Hiccup turns to see his fellow recruits, watching him with folded arms. Tuffnut steps forward with a scowl.
TUFFNUT: You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon. (BEAT) It's me.
"HA, as if! You're as deadly as a baby yak!" Ruffnut cackled, having the scowl on Tuffnut's face to grow deeper.
HICCUP: Uh...
SNOTLOUT: I love this plan.
HICCUP: I didn't...
RUFFNUT: You're crazy. (SULTRY) I like that.
Hiccup felt uncomfortable, not used to all the attention he was getting on screen. He was always ignored, and he thought it would stay that way. Then again, that was before he had met Toothless…
ASTRID: So? What is the plan?
Hiccup smiles, glowing in the support of his friends.
Despite all the events that led them to that point, Hiccup grinned at the sight, liking the idea of having these friends a lot better.
EXT. FOGGY SEA - DAY
The ships follow in line through the gauntlet of rocks as orders are whispered from ship to ship.
A dragon head looms out of the fog. The men recoil... only to discover that it's a wrecked ship, impaled high on a gnarled sea stack.
GOBBER: Ah. I was wondering where that went.
The Vikings grew more nervous. This search looked more and more unappealing the further they went.
A clicking buzz becomes audible, growing louder. It fills the sky, converging in one general direction. Stoick sniffs the air.
STOICK: Stay low and ready your weapons.
Stoick's ship suddenly JERKS to a halt as the keel burrows into shallow black sand. Stoick hopsoverboard, landing on a sprawling beach. The BUZZING suddenly STOPS. Above him, a craggy volcano towers into the gloom.
STOICK: (CONT'D) We're here.
Behind him, several dragon-headed bows pierce the fog.
Stoick paid extremely close attention to the screen. So this was the dragon's nest! Didn't look so bad…
Hiccup shuddered, remembering this place at night when Toothless had brought them there. Didn't look any better in the daylight.
EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS - RING - DAY
Hiccup steps back from the door, drawing the Monstrous Nightmare out of its cave. It snorts, stepping into the ring, calmed by Hiccup's outstretched hand - focused on him. ON THE TEENS... bewildered, in awe.
The villagers were shocked. Hiccup actually tamed a Monstrous Nightmare?! Who would've thought that boy was capable of such feats?
Stoick stared at the screen in disbelief. Hiccup looked more in control than he ever had before. He's changed a lot since then... Ali said, "Maybe you could have known that, before you disowned him, now could you?" Stoick scowled at Ali as he knew she was right yet again.
Snotlout nervously reaches for a spear laying near his foot. Astrid stops him.
ASTRID: (CORRECTING) Uh-uh.
"Look who's scared now!" Tuffnut taunted, earning a death glare from Snotlout.
Hiccup slows to a stop in front of the teens, with the Nightmare inches from his outstretched hand. He reaches over and grabs Snotlout's trembling hand.
SNOTLOUT: Wait! What are you... HICCUP Relax. It's okay... it's okay.
Hiccup replaces his outstretched hand with Snotlout's, putting him in control of the massive beast. The Nightmare snorts, but remains calm. Snotlout, by contrast, chuckles nervously - it's at once terrifying and amazing. The others watch, spellbound.
The Vikings watched in bewilderment. Even Snotlout was taming a dragon?! They were surely hallucinating.
Hiccup turns and walks away.
SNOTLOUT: Where are you going?!
Hiccup pulls a bundle of rope from a supply box.
HICCUP: You're going to need something to help you hold on.
The teens eye each other apprehensively, and look up to reveal... ALL THE DRAGONS standing in the ring, facing the teens expectantly.
"Wait, hold on! What are we doing? Don't tell me we're flying…" Snotlout rambled nervously, scared out of his mind.
Understanding dawned upon Hiccup's face, realizing what he was planning to do. He prayed that this would work, not wanting to cause any more trouble. Not that it could possibly get worse.. I mean he did just send his own village to their imminent death!
Stoick's gaze hardened; what was Hiccup planning on doing? He couldn't possibly believe that they could all fly to the nest, could he? Will he try to stop him?
Stoick shook his head determinedly. No, they were already there. They would finish what many have tried to accomplish today, and Hiccup was not going to interfere.
Ali did a special prayer as she said, "God, have mercy."