Author's Note: Here we are. The eighth part of HTTYD the movie. I am pretty happy to have made it this far into my story. This was a fun two-parter of Hiccup and Bright's teamwork. Now we're going to be at the next scene in the next chapter. I hope you lot are enjoying the ride so far. I certainly am.

Chapter 11: Teamwork - II

The group walked home together, with Hiccup and Bright's friends surrounding them and began bombarding them with questions.

"Hey, Hiccup," started Fishlegs, "I've never seen a Gronckle do that before."

"How'd you do that?" Tuffnut added in amazement.

Hiccup squirmed, as Bright invented an excuse. "We, uh, left our axes back in the ring."

"So," continued Hiccup, "you guys go ahead and we'll catch up with you." They walked away in a hurry, as Astrid watched them with suspicion.

…

Hiccup used the technique Bright had shown him earlier. He rubbed Toothless behind the ear, causing him to relax and fall over in delight.

…

An angry Deadly Nadder approached Hiccup, while Bright was preoccupied with a bickering certain someone. Just as Astrid moved in to strike, Hiccup performed his special rubbing technique, which sent the Nadder down. Astrid and the other kids looked at him from the sidelines in amazement.

…

Hiccup and Bright walked into the Great Hall, and they sat down at a table together to enjoy some time. And the other kids noticed them and moved over to their table—leaving Astrid alone.

"Hey Hiccup! Bright!" Fishlegs greeted them heartily.

"What was that?" Snotlout asked. "Some kind of trick? What did you do?"

"Hiccup, you're totally going to come in first," Tuffnut added. "There's no question."

Sure enough, they also began asking about Bright, who was becoming uncomfortable with the intrusiveness of their questions.

…

Bright watched as Hiccup used a mirror-like object to create a patch of light on the ground. Toothless and Luna clawed and chased the light like a cat chasing a laser pointer. Bright smiled while Hiccup had his fun.

…

A beam lifted from the door of another dragon pen.

"Meet the Terrible Terror," said Gobber.

A tiny, pint-like dragon stepped out and moved toward the group. Tuffnut laughed. "It's like the size of my—" He was taken down in a blur. "Get it off! Get it off! Oh! I'm hurt, I am very much hurt!"

Hiccup stopped the Terrible Terror with the same light-patch trick he used earlier with Toothless and Luna. The tiny dragon retreated back to its cage. The teens approached him yet again, while Astrid looked on in suspicion.

"Wow," Tuffnut breathed in amazement to Astrid. "He's better than you ever were."

…

"He's so going to love it," Bright told Hiccup, who was holding a saddle.

"I know," Hiccup agreed, but they soon silenced themselves as they noticed Astrid in the distance. She saw Hiccup carrying one of his harnesses. They quickly walked away from her, losing her in the woods.

…

Hiccup strapped the newly designed harness onto Toothless, while Bright was mounted on Luna, with Toothless tied to a nearby post with a rope. Hiccup rode him in the air—while stationary. Toothless looked like a giant kite tied to a tree stump. This harness seemed to work.

The rope of Toothless broke, and the pair crashed into a tree. Bright and Luna landed to check on them. Hiccup's face was red.

"Oh, great," Hiccup mumbled.

…

While Bright and Luna were still in the cove, Hiccup went for the town, Toothless tied to him. The streets were empty, save for a lone Viking who crossed Hiccup's path. "Hiccup."

Hiccup nodded, trying to look casual. Once the coast was clear, he covertly steered Toothless into the Blacksmith's Stall. Toothless pressed himself inside, rooting through stuff and making a racket.

Astrid walked nearby and was alerted. "Hiccup?"

The boy froze, then he tried frantically to pry the ring off the saddle hook, but it wouldn't budge.

"Are you in there?" Astrid's voice came again.

Too late—she was right outside. As Astrid walked along the outside of the Blacksmith's Stall, Hiccup jumped out of the window and closed the shutters behind him. Hiccup's harness was stretched through the window, still attached to Toothless's saddle.

"Astrid. Hey!" Hiccup greeted awkwardly. "Hi Astrid."

"I normally don't care what people do," she said, "but you're acting weird. Well, weirder."

Toothless spotted a sheep nearby and made a move toward it. As a result, Hiccup was suddenly pulled tight against the window shutters. He struck a pose to compensate…and then got pulled through the shutters. They snapped back in Astrid's face, and she reopened them to find nothing but an empty stall.

In the distance, Toothless and Hiccup slipped off unseen.

…

A lone, battered ship was pulled into a slip, overloaded with equally battered looking men. They disembark to a crowd of onlookers, looking like a team of hometown heroes who just had their butts kicked. Gobber hobbled through the mumbling crowd to find Stoick—the last to disembark and glowering with battered pride.

"Where are the other ships?" A Viking asked.

"You don't want to know," Spitelout shook his head.

Stoick lumbered past Gobber, leaving him staring at the trashed ship.

"Well, I trust you found the nest at least?" Gobber asked.

"Not even close," Stoick replied.

"Ah," Gobber nodded. "Excellent." He followed Stoick up the ramp and snagged his duffle bag with his hook appendage, sharing the burden.

"I hope you had a little more success than me," Stoick said to Gobber.

"Well, if by success, you mean that your parenting troubles are over with, then…yes," Gobber said.

A group of merry villagers rush past. "Congratulations Stoick! Everyone is so relieved."

"Out with the old and in with the new, right?!" Another Viking added.

"No one will miss that old nuisance!" A third Viking continued. "Plus with that new kid, he's all pumped!"

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!" A fourth Viking finished.

Stoick was stunned, overwhelmed by the insensitivity. He turned to Gobber. "He's…gone?"

"Yeah…most afternoons," Gobber affirmed. "But who can blame him? The life of a celebrity…well, celebrities…is very rough. He and his friend can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by his new fans."

Stoick is doubly confused. "Hiccup? And new kid?"

"That Bright kid sure has taught your son a whole lot of new things against dragons," Gobber nodded, beaming. "Who would've thought, eh? He has this…way with the beasts."

Stoick looked surprised.

…

Luna soared through the skies with Toothless, while Bright was on her back, and Hiccup on Toothless's. Luna was gleefully smiling in delight, feeling the wind against her wings while Bright felt the wind blow against his hair. "It feels so good to be up in the sky again," she chirped to him.

"I know," Bright agreed. "It feels like a long time ago since we managed to ride." He looked over to Hiccup, as the billowing clouds rose like mountains. The ground seemed miles below them.

"Okay there, bud," Hiccup said. "We're gonna take this nice and slow." He checked a leather cheat sheet, clipped onto his harness. Inscribed upon it are several tail positions and their pedal position equivalations.

"How are you holding up, Hicc?" Bright called over the winds.

"Good, thanks for asking!" Hiccup replied. "Here we go. Here we go…position three, no four." He pressed the pedal, causing the tail to flare. They roll off into an arching bank, gloriously lit by the late afternoon sun.

"So far, so good, Hicc!" Bright called again. "Take it slow and steady, and you'll do great!"

Hiccup nodded to Bright, and then tucked against his neck, thrilled that his new harness and vest were holding. The foot controls made the tail appendage quick and responsive. He watched Toothless's every fluctuation, trying to match it with the prosthetic.

"Good, try and make a target!" Bright called over the winds.

Hiccup nodded to his friend again, and sized up a target—a towering arch of stone, rising from the sea. "All right, it's time. It's go time!"

They dived toward it, with Luna and Bright behind them, watching carefully for anything that might happen. Hiccup and Toothless lined up to pass through the arch.

"Come on!" Hiccup shouted. "Come on, buddy!"

They zipped through the arch. Bright smiled. A perfect maneuver.

"Yeah!" Hiccup cheered. "Yes, it's working!"

The triumph was short-lived, however, as they smacked into one of several sea stacks while Hiccup tried to keep up with the turns.

"Are you all right?!" Bright shouted, while Luna flew closely behind Toothless.

"Sorry," Hiccup apologized to Toothless, just as they hurtled into another rock pillar. Toothless grumbled in annoyance. "My fault."

Toothless swatted him with his ear plate. "Concentrate, Hiccup. We wouldn't want any more accidents."

"Yeah, yeah," Hiccup groaned. "I'm on it." He referred to the cheat sheet. "Position four, no three."

They pierced through the clouds, with Luna and Bright following them. For the first time, they could see the whole of the island below them. It shrunk with every passing second. He swallowed and tightened his grip on the handles.

"Yeah!" Hiccup cheered. "Go, baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing! Do you see this, Bright?!"

Bright chuckled, feeling his excitement. "Yes!" he shouted back. "Keep at it, Hicc!"

"The wind in my…" Hiccup spotted the leather guide tearing free in the turbulence. He panicked. "Cheat sheet! Stop!" He grabbed frantically for the airborne sheet… "No!" …and he nabbed it before it was carried out of reach. Toothless, obeying the command, stopped beating his wings.

Bright widened his eyes in shock and fear, as did Luna.

As they slowed to a stop, Hiccup felt weightless. The rings of his vest float off of the harness hooks. Hiccup suddenly found himself detached, free-falling.

"Hiccup!" roared Bright in fear. "Come on, Luna!"

"Right!" She beat her wings, as Hiccup was screaming.

"Oh gods! Oh no!" he cried out. Without him, the tail lost control, with Hiccup and Toothless spiral downward, barely avoiding Luna and Bright, who shouted at them.

Toothless fought to get back under Hiccup. "Come on! A little further, damn it!" he cursed.

Hiccup tried to calm him. "Alright, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself. No, no…come back down towards me! Come back down—" He extended his arms and legs, giving himself as much surface area as possible. He angled back towards Toothless, as the tumbling dragon whacked Hiccup with his wing.

Bright looked terrified, but luckily it didn't knock Hiccup out.

After a few more misses, Hiccup finally grabbed hold of the harness and managed to lock in—just in time to pull Toothless out of his dive…barely shy of the tree tops.

Luna sighed in relief, as did Bright.

Hiccup and Toothless careen past the wooden cliff and directly into a treacherous slalom course of jutting sea stacks.

Luna joined them with Bright.

Hiccup pulled the cheat sheet from his teeth and attempted to check on his positions. It flapped violently in the turbulence, making it impossible. With no time to think, Hiccup threw it away and steered Toothless's tail on instinct…with perfect intuition.

Bright looked on, proud and a sense of pride was in him.

Together, Toothless and Hiccup managed a tight, hair-rasing series of split-second turns, making it to the open water, unscatched. Hiccup took a breath and glanced back at the death-defying obstacle course, now safely behind them. He beamed, relieved, and noticed Bright on top of Luna above them, smiling proudly down to him. He sat back and threw his arms up in victory. "YEAAHHHH!"

Toothless smiled cheekily and proceeded with a happy squeal and a fireball. Hiccup's glee turned into dread as they flew directly into it.

"Ah, come on…" he grumbled.

Bright blinked in astonishment. He laughed as soon as Hiccup was out of the smoke, hair all messed up.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want, Bright…" Hiccup groaned to his friend.