A/N
I'M BACK! Yes I know it's been like 5 months now, but school, exams and driving lessons are more important than fanfiction. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll see you in the next one.
EXT. HIGH SEAS – DAWN A painted DRAGON, with a sword run through it. It's the billowing sail of Stoick's ship. Stoick hovers over the familiar nautical map - his eyes on the uncharted corner, swirling in mist and illustrations of dragons.
STOICK "I can almost smell them. They're close. Steady."
"Do I smell?" "We don't smell." "What is he talking about?" The dragons were talking among themselves.
Stoick raises his gaze to… AN EPIC FOG BANK, towering from sky to sea like a bruised, daunting curtain, beyond which nothing is visible. The three ships drift alongside it, skirting its solid edge, looking for an opening. ON DECK the crewmen mill nervously, all too aware of what Stoick is considering.
"That looks terrifying." Fishlegs stated and the other teens agreed. It looked way worse than the adults described.
"How do you even know where to go?" Heather asked. When she received no answer she guessed they actually didn't know where to go and simply winged it.
STOICK (CONT'D) "Take us in."
The helmsman steers Stoick's ship into the fog. The men draw their weapons, prepping for the worst.
VIKING "Hard to port... for Helheim's gate."
"A very appropriate name." Viggo said. That fog and whatever hid behind it was like something straight from Helheim.
The first ship disappears into the whiteout, followed by the other two. A BEAT Suddenly a flash of light. A silhouette of a dragon. Hollers. Sounds of splitting and shattering wood. Plunges into the water. Another bright flash.
Hiccup dropped his head into his hands. Just how many of them had died on that expedition? And how many of those who did perish were only there because they didn't want to stay back on Berk with him?
"It's not your fault." Astrid assured him. The other teens did too, Heather included.
"They're only there because they didn't want to be on Berk with me." Hiccup tried to argue, but his dragon companion wouldn't have it.
"Yeah, well they made that choice, you didn't force them to do it." Hiccup knew Toothless was right, but knowing some people chose to die rather than stay with him would still haunt him.
MATCH CUT TO: EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS - RING – DAY CLOSE ON a DRAGON painted onto a shield. Hiccup runs his finger over its outline.
HICCUP "You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet."
"Should you not be focusing more on trying to stay alive?" Atali asked. She was getting quite concerned about Hiccup. She strongly believed he could change his tribe's minds about dragons, but he had to stay alive to do that.
"I needed to know more, okay? What else was I supposed to do?" Hiccup asked. He probably should have paid more attention to the lesson, but it's not like he wanted to learn how to kill dragons.
"Maybe wait until the lesson was over and then ask?" Snotlout actually said something that made sense for once.
"But then it would have looked suspicious." Hiccup argued.
"I do not mean to offend you, but I doubt they would have questioned you." Mala really did not mean any offense with that, but it didn't lessen the blow. It was true, no one would have questioned him. The village would just think it was another one of his weird questions or ideas.
KABLAM! A blast takes the axe head off of Hiccup's hilt, leaving a smoking hole behind him. Hiccup YELPS and RUNS.
"That was a close one brother! You should pay more attention." Dagur called out getting a lot of weird looks from the Berkians.
"Still not your brother!" Hiccup called back, equally as freaked out as everyone else.
"Denial!" Hiccup would come around, Dagur was sure he would… eventually.
GOBBER (O.S.) "FOCUS Hiccup! You're not even trying."
"Yeah, that's kinda the point." Hiccup said quietly so only those around him could hear. "I'm not exactly trying to kill dragons."
The teens would have questioned him, but Toothless was explanation enough.
CUT BACK to reveal a Deadly Nadder, loose in a maze-like arrangement of moveable walls. Gobber calls orders from above.
GOBBER (CONT'D) "Today... is all about attack."
The Nadder hops from wall to wall, sending the recruits scurrying.
GOBBER (CONT'D) "Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."
"Those meat-bags are supposed to be quick and light on their feet?" The Nightmare from the arena asked referring to Snotlout and Fishlegs as well as all the other vikings.
"Some of them are actually quite fast." One of the Zipplebacks from the latest raid said. They were fat, but damn were some of them fast too.
The teens move in, stumbling over Hiccup and his unwieldy shield. The Nadder spots Fishlegs' ample rear hiding behind a wall. It whips its tail of spikes. Fishlegs SCREAMS and lifts an entire wall to shield himself from the spray.
FISHLEGS "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods."
"Just now!? I've been questioning them since I was 8!" Hiccup exclaimed hysterically. Fishlegs backed away slightly.
"Come on, it's not so bad lad." Gobber tried to defend himself.
"You're crazy!"
"And you're insane!" Gobber spoke the truth. Hiccup was insane and not one person or dragon could deny that.
"Sure I am! What's your point?" The sarcastic little shit called back cheerily. Safe to say everyone was freaked out by that. Even Dagur was concerned.
GOBBER "Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike."
"Not every dragon has a blind spot. You do know that?" Viggo asked, very concerned at this point. What did these vikings actually know about dragons?
"Ah, details." The blacksmith shrugged him off.
"They're all gonna die." Viggo said quietly to himself. He still needed to convince Hiccup for a game of Maces and Talons. Maybe he could try once they had another break.
Ruff and Tuff rush in, diving and rolling up to the Nadder's nose. The Nadder sniffs the air - it can't see them. Tuff and Ruff are smashed together - too close for comfort.
"This will end horribly." One of the vikings who went out to search for the nest said.
"This has already ended horribly." Hiccup reminded everyone that this was the past. They winced. Yeah, they could imagine just how badly it went.
RUFFNUT (WHISPERED) "Do you ever bathe?"
TUFFNUT "If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot."
RUFFNUT "How about I give you one!"
"Just… why?" Hiccup asked the twins. He could already feel his brain cells slowly fading away.
"You wouldn't get it." They said simultaneously. Hiccup covered his face in despair. Toothless chuckled. A frustrated Hiccup was better than a sad one. It was progress.
Ruff and Tuff SHOVE each other, till their movement and noise gives them away. The Nadder ATTACKS, SNAPPING at both of them.
GOBBER "Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much."
Laughter rang out throughout the theater.
Hiccup wanders up to Gobber, while the others dart past.
HICCUP "Hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"
"Simple really. You don't." One of the Nightmares called out. None of the dragons in the nest would dare to sneak up on a Night Fury. Not even in their wildest dreams would they ever do that.
Dagur raised a brow. "Why are you asking him? You literally snuck up on that Night Fury and watched it." Hiccup just shrugged which made the older male groan in frustration.
GOBBER "None one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now get in there."
Hiccup just looked at Gobber with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
The blacksmith glared right back at his apprentice. "Don't even start fishbone."
"I didn't say anything meathead." He said with that annoying grin still on his face.
Again Stoick frowned in jealousy and envy. He never interacted with his son like that. But he would fix this mess. Somehow. He didn't know how yet, but he would figure that out eventually.
HICCUP "I know, I know, but hypothetically..."
ASTRID (WHISPERED) "Hiccup!"
She puts her finger to her lips and gestures for him to hide. A moment later, the Nadder leaps over the walls, surprising them by landing in front of her. Astrid somersaults into its blind spot, confusing it. She rears back to strike - just as Snotlout LEAPS IN, protectively SWEEPING Astrid behind him.
SNOTLOUT "Watch out babe. I'll take care of this."
Spitelout shook his head and sighed. Why did his son have to make every woman in his life hate him?
"You know what? I changed my mind. He hasn't had enough yet." She stood up ready to beat the crap out of a cowering Snotlout.
"Hiccup you should probably hold your mate back from killing your cousin." That made her turn around and instead kick the useless reptile. She sat back down with a blush that was also present on Hiccup's face as he tried to scold the laughing dragon. Snotlout didn't even care about the comment, he was just glad he didn't get punched again.
ASTRID "Hey!"
Snotlout MISSES. Astrid glares at him. The Nadder laughs at him.
"Did you laugh at him?" One of the vikings asked as those around him either laughed or cried at Snotlout's display.
"Yes, his attempt at flirting with the girl and his failure was very funny." The Nadder's reply made Snotlout feel even more humiliated, but then he remembered that the fight with the Nadder could have been worse. Humiliation was not as bad as death.
SNOTLOUT (DEFENSIVE) "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid. What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now!"
"What are you? Some sort of God?" Astrid asked sarcastically. Toothless and Hiccup snorted. Looks like Astrid was getting infected by Hiccup's sarcasm. "Join us! Join us!" The two chanted in their heads.
Before Snotlout could open his mouth he got tail slapped by Toothless. "Please, don't embarrass yourself further."
Stoick, Spitelout and the other adults groaned. This is how the next generation of fighters was performing? Berk was screwed.
The Nadder tears off after her, knocking down walls in pursuit. She leaps and dives like a highly trained gymnast. Hiccup wanders up to Gobber again.
HICCUP "They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?"
"Yes, you have seen one napping. Probably." Viggo added that last part quietly.
GOBBER "Hiccup!"
ASTRID "-Hiccup!"
Hiccup spins around to see the maze walls collapsing like dominos toward him. Astrid comes flying through the dust and crash-lands on top of him, laying him out in a limb-tangled mess.
TUFFNUT "Oooh! Love on the battlefield!"
Both Stoick and Astrid's parents had the same thought. Grandbabies. And Gobbr, well… "When's the wedding?" He teased his unofficial nephew/son.
RUFFNUT "She could do better."
The Nadder closes in, emerging through the cloud of dust.
Astrid's parents frowned at that. Could she really though? Who else was left? Snotlout, Tuffnut or Fishlegs. Fishlegs wasn't so bad, but he would not survive Astrid. Hiccup on the other hand definitely could.
"Uhh, sorry?" The twins apologized to both Astrid and Hiccup, but both of them were too preoccupied with blushing. Not being in danger and having time to analyze the situation made them realize the position they were in was very compromising.
HICCUP (struggling to untangle) "Just... let me... why don't you..."
The Nadder spins around and races back toward them like a Raptor. Astrid untangles herself and tries to pull her axe from Hiccup's shield... which is attached to his limp, gangly arm. She PLANTS her foot on his torso and YANKS the axe free, still burrowed into the shield.
The vikings and dragons winced. "Ohhh."
Astrid tried to apologize, but Hiccup wouldn't hear it. It was a life-or-death situation so what she did was justified.
She SPINS and SWINGS the axe and shield, scoring a DIRECT HIT on the oncoming Nadder's NOSE. It yelps and scurries off.
Astrid shot the Nadder an apologetic look. To her surprise, the dragon nodded back in acknowledgment.
GOBBER "Well done, Astrid."
Gobber hobbles off to wrestle the Nadder back into his cave. Hiccup gets to his feet - all eyes are upon him. He turns to find Astrid glaring at him, winded.
ASTRID "Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on."
She grabs her axe and stomps off. Hiccup watches, stung.
"Don't apologize. I'm actually glad you said that back then." At the teens' surprised looks he continued. "It made me realize I had to check out the other side." The rest of the vikings were confused by that. What did he mean by checking out the other side-
CUT TO: EXT. COVE - MAGIC HOUR
CLOSE ON A fish... being thrown into the cove.
The berkians stared at the screen. Various emotions were felt by them once they realized what their heir was doing. Surprisingly there was less betrayal and more shock/horror. Stoick was the most shocked. He could not fathom that his son, his own flesh and blood would betray them.
He would not freak out about this. He'd already messed up once and he would not repeat his mistakes. He would carefully observe his son's actions and figure out what to do once he had the full story. "I won't fail him again Val." He was part of the reason his son was even doing this. He along with the rest of the village felt so ashamed of himself for pushing Hiccup far enough to side with the dragons.
Dagur wasn't sure what to think. He could understand his brother's reasons, but to actually try and make peace with dragons? That was insane. And Dagur was all for it. If Hiccup could train a Night Fury, then surely he could train a Skrill for him. There was even one in the room with them right now. Then again that dragon with the three tails was also very interesting.
It hits the ground and slides. A moment later, Hiccup peeks through a gap in the rock, looking around cautiously. Nothing. Hiccup squeezes through and enters the cove.
"How did the shield even get stuck there?" Spitelout asked his nephew. Just how bad was his luck? Even nature was against him.
"I'm sure the rocks somehow moved just to spite me." They couldn't help but chuckle at that. With Hiccup's luck that actually seemed possible.
Toothless snorted. "Your bad luck can defy even nature itself."
A BEAT, then Hiccup hears a SNORT from behind him. Hiccup turns to see the Night Fury, crouched on a rock like a stealthy panther. It descends, approaching him... ready to pounce.
Sharp intakes of breath could be heard from the vikings side of the room. "It was nice knowing you Hiccup." Dagur takes back what he said. This was too insane even for him.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "This was in the past and I'm still here you know." Dgur did not seem to be listening to him though. His attention was focused on the screen.
Hiccup's group wasn't worried. They knew nothing bad happened. The two of them were friends now or brothers in all but blood as Toothless had called Hiccup.
Hiccup swallows his fear and offers the fish. Doing so reveals the dagger at his waist.
"At least you're not completely defenseless." Stoick quietly said to himself. The worry for his son completely overshadowed whatever disappointment he felt at Hiccup for sympathizing with the enemy.
"I don't think that dagger could do much against a Night Fury…" Gobber shut his mouth once he saw the glare Stoick was sending him.
The dragon sees it and hisses. Hiccup reaches for it, eliciting a growl.
He pauses, carefully lifts it by the handle, and tosses it away. The dragon calms.
"Huh. Interesting." Viggo had never seen a dragon calm down like that. It made no sense. How could one of the most dangerous dragons in existence look like a puppy?
All the vikings were baffled. Even Hiccup's group was surprised. They all stared at Toothless. How did he go from murderous dragon one second to adorable puppy the next?
As it approaches the fish, Hiccup notices that it's missing teeth.
"No teeth? Weird." Dagur said. For the first time ever everyone agreed with the insane Berserker heir. How did the Night Fury even eat?
HICCUP "Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had..."
A set of razor sharp teeth emerge from its gums to grab the fish. Toothless snatches and gnashes it up, swallowing it whole.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "... teeth."
The audience jumped, startled just like the Hiccup on screen. A good portion of the dragons did too. This was something even they did not know due to how rare and elusive Night Furies were.
"Retractable teeth? Fascinating." Viggo and Fishlegs said simultaneously. The dragon hunter observed Hiccup's group. They were interesting individuals, to say the least, but just like everyone else Viggo had them all figured out.
"That's how you got your name?" Ruffnut questioned, staring at Toothless in disbelief.
"Well, it just kinda stuck." Hiccup tried to explain, slightly nervous from the judgmental looks he got from the twins.
"But… Toothless? Really?" Tuffnut asked. Surely Hiccup could have come up with a better name.
"Eh, I like it." Toothless said backing up his rider. At least he had a proper name now and he wasn't alone all the time. Maybe Hiccup could help him find out if there were any other Night Furies now that he wasn't under the Queen's control.
"See, he likes it." Hiccup shot Toothless a thumbs up. At least someone appreciated the name. The twins shook their heads with disappointed looks.
The teeth retract again. Toothless presses closer with an expectant look. Hiccup retreats nervously.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Uh, no. No, I don't have any more."
The Fury backs Hiccup against a rock, placing himself the same position as before. The dragon closes in over him, staring blankly.
Some of the vikings shielded their eyes from the screen once more.
A tense moment passes... then Toothless regurgitates a chunk of fish onto Hiccup's lap. They exchange stares.
The berkians cringed. "Ugh." "That's disgusting." "Why did he even do that?"
Viggo stared at the screen blankly before he chuckled. "There's no way he actually…" The vikings around him shot him confused looks. What was he on about now?
The dragons were astonished. The Night Fury was feeding the hatchling. "That's kinda weird." A Timberjack said before being glared at and scolded by the mama bear dragons. "No, it's not! It's adorable." One of the Nadders said, thinking about her own young.
Hiccup realizes what Toothless wants him to do. Hiccup crouches slowly and squeamishly picks it up.
The teens realized what Toothless wanted Hiccup to do. "No…" Mala, Throk and Atali were dumbfounded. A dragon feeding a human was unheard of. They all saw Toothless in a new light now.
Hiccup glared at the laughing dragon. "Useless reptile."
The dragon waits expectantly. Hiccup gags and gnaws off a bite of the slimy fish.
"Why did you eat it?" The vikings exclaimed in disgust. The idea of eating fish raw wasn't that bad, but eating a regurgitated fish was on a whole other level.
"I was cornered by the most dangerous dragon we know of. Did you honestly think I would do something to piss him off? I was ready to do whatever he wanted me to do." The vikings had to concede. Hiccup's argument was solid.
He forces a smile. Toothless mimics him.
A few vikings pinched or even slapped themselves to make sure what they were seeing was real. "Did that dragon just smile?"
Toothless shot the teens the same gummy smile as his on-screen self. "How? Why is he so adorable? You're supposed to be terrifying." Snotlout said. Even Astrid had to agree with him, the beginning of her first flight was the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced in her life. She had no idea how Hiccup could stomach that.
Amazed, Hiccup sits up and tries to touch him. Toothless HISSES and flaps off to a crash on the other side of the cove. He BLASTS the mossy ground to a red-hot temperature… and curls up on it like a giant cat.
"Are you sure you're not a cat?" Heather asked teasingly with the other teens joining in on teasing the poor Night Fury. Hiccup looked on in amusement.
Toothless scoffed in annoyance, smoke pouring out of his nostrils. "No, I'm just the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." He could not let them forget that while he may have some feline characteristics he was still powerful enough to scare off any other dragon or human. Just because they were Hiccup's friends didn't mean they would get special treatment.
He turns to find Hiccup seated beside him. Toothless tolerates his persistent presence... until Hiccup tries to touch his damaged tail. Toothless SNAPS at him. Hiccup takes the hint and leaves.
"Never mind, you do have some common sense." Dagur, Stoick, Gobber and Spitelout said simultaneously. The three adults sent the Berserker disturbed looks. Since when did he know what common sense was?
"I'm not that bad." The heir muttered under his breath. His friends all shot him looks of disbelief. "No, you really are." Hiccup did the mature thing of pouting and refusing to make eye contact with any of them.
DISSOLVE TO: EXT. COVE – LATER It's MAGIC HOUR. Toothless wakes, hanging upside down from a tree. He spots Hiccup sitting on the other side of the cove. Sketching in the sand.
"Maybe a bat then?" Astrid asked joining in on Heather's teasing.
Okay one of them could get special treatment, but that's only because she was Hiccup's mate. He wasn't going soft on them. No definitely not.
CLOSE ON a sketch of Toothless.
Hiccup draws with a stick, minding his own business. Toothless appears behind him, watching carefully. Aware of his presence, Hiccup continues, trying not to scare him off.
Toothless walks off. A moment later, he reappears with an entire sapling, drawing lines in the sand. He rushes here and there, making haphazard lines in every direction. Finally, Toothless drops the tree and inspects his work. He seems pleased.
"Is it trying to draw?" One viking asked incredulously. Their views on dragons had been changed so much by that Night Fury they didn't know what to think anymore.
Hiccup stands and takes in the sprawling scribble, amazed by it.
"Is that supposed to be a drawing of Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked the winged, fire-breathing, giant lizard he was leaning against.
"Yes, it's a masterpiece can't you tell?" Toothless said smugly.
"It does look like Hiccup!" The twins cried out in unison. The other teens shook their heads at their antics. How they could see Hiccup in that, they had no idea and honestly they didn't want to know.
He accidentally steps onto one of the lines, eliciting an instant growl from Toothless. He steps on it again. Toothless growls again.
"Why does he keep provoking it?" Stoick bemoaned his son's bravery? Stupidity? He couldn't tell anymore.
"Wow, you're sensitive." Astrid said. Was this really the dragon that scared her so much?
"He was stepping on my work of art!" They would never understand. His masterpiece was being trampled on and ruined.
"Sure, if that's what you want to call it." Snotlout said causing the useless reptile to sulk.
Realizing how sensitive he is, Hiccup steps carefully between each line, turning round and round until he unwittingly bumps into Toothless.
Sharp intakes of breath could be heard from the vikings. Being so close to a Night Fury was still terrifying no matter how docile it acted.
Toothless snorts. Once again, they're face to face. Hiccup slowly extends his hand. Toothless hesitates. Hiccup turns his head away and closes his eyes. To his amazement, Toothless bridges the gap and presses his muzzle against Hiccup's hand. In a flash, the dragon is gone, leaving Hiccup astounded.
Viggo took a closer look at the small group that Hiccup had formed. It appeared as if they were leaning against air, but he had an idea as to what was really there.
The berkians were all very confused. Somehow Hiccup managed to make peace with a dragon, a Night Fury no less, dragons were not mindless beasts. What else would they see?
"Wow." The teens said in unison. They all wondered how that felt.
"That was beautiful." Tuffnut sobbed while his sister comforted him. Everyone else looked at them weirdly.
EXT. VILLAGE – NIGHT Gobber and the recruits are seated at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, toasting campfire food around a roaring bonfire.
GOBBER "...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face." (can't deny it) "I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."
Gobber jumped up from his chair. "Oi! Which ones of ye lot took ma limbs?" He asked the dragons sitting on the other side of the room.
The vikings watched as two dragons got to the front of the crowd. The first one was a female Nadder with blue and green scales. "I took your hand."
The second dragon was a male Nightmare with red and black scales. "I ate your leg."
The vikings waited with bated breath, expecting the blacksmith to start screaming bloody murder at the two dragons. What they got instead was… "How did I taste?" Gobber was morbidly curious.
Both the dragons and the vikings shot him disturbed looks. The teens were especially unsettled, even the twins!
"Ehh, ok I guess?" The Nadder said not meeting the meathead's gaze. It was obvious she was lying.
The Nightmare on the other hand was a bit more blunt. "Like shit." Some of the vikings let out startled laughs and quickly tried to cover it up with a cough to not further anger Gobber. Dagur just laughed outright.
"Oi! You trying to call me smelly, ey?!" Gobber waved his hook threateningly at the dragon who dared to say he stinks.
The Nightmare gagged. "Yes. Do you even bathe?" Hiccup's voice could barely be heard over the laughter. "No, he doesn't!" He shouted before falling victim to the laughter as well. Who knew talking about his mentor's lost limbs could be this funny?
"I'll have ye know I bathed last year!" Gobber said indignantly. How dare they judge him. This was bullying at its finest.
The Nightmare nodded. "Ah, so that's why I was throwing up and shitting my guts out for a week." Gobber's jaw was on the floor while listening to the laughter coming from all around him.
FISHLEGS "Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon. Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something."
The audience was quite disturbed by what he said. "Wow. Did not expect that from Fishlegs." Heather said as the boy in question squirmed under the looks he was receiving.
SNOTLOUT "I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face."
He postures to Astrid. She rolls her eyes.
Hiccup stood up from his seat, which right now was Toothless. "Let me just get one thing clear. There is nothing beautiful about Gobber's hands or feet."
Spitelout saw Gobber was about to protest so he quickly shut that down. "Yeah, I think those two." He pointed at the dragons who ate Gobber's limbs. "Already established that." Gobber sulked as everyone laughed.
GOBBER (with a mouthful) "Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."
ON HICCUP hiding his horrified look form the others. Gobber stands and stretches.
The vikings were curious what Hiccup would do with that knowledge. Gobber had a good idea of what his apprentice would try to do. "Stoick, if he manages to actually do it then I'm retiring." His friend was confused. Just what did Gobber mean by that?
GOBBER (CONT'D) "Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare." (playful, taunting) "But who'll win the honor of killing it?"
He hobbles off. The teens reflect.
The dragons and Hiccup's group shook their heads. By now the teens had spent too much time with Toothless to still believe what they had been taught by the older generations. They were confident that Hiccup could if given the chance, stop the raids with a peaceful solution. He managed with a Night Fury so any other species should only be easier, right?
TUFFNUT (very matter of fact) "It's gonna be me." (BEAT) "It's my destiny. See?"
Tuffnut rolls up his sleeve to reveal a red dragon on his arm.
"Aww, shit." Tuffnut said as his sister and friends laughed at his misery.
FISHLEGS (GASPS) "Your mom let you get a tattoo?"
"No. No, I did not." She said deathly calm. Tuffnut kept his eyes firmly on the screen. "I'm dead. I'm so dead." He kept repeating in his head like a mantra.
TUFFNUT "It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."
RUFFNUT "Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."
TUFFNUT "Yes it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now."
"It was nice knowing you Tuffnut." Snotlout clapped the Thorston boy on the shoulder with a grin on his face.
"We'll talk about this once we get back mister." Tuffnut gulped at her tone. He saw his father shoot him an apologetic look. Looks like he couldn't count on his dad to help him this time.
SNOTLOUT "It wasn't there yesterday. Is it a birthmark or a today-mark?"
Hiccup gets up and walks away from the group. Astrid watches him as he leaves the bonfire.
DISSOLVE TO: INT. BLACKSMITH STALL - MOMENTS LATER Hiccup enters a small room at the back of the stall. It's covered in drawings of weaponry and scale models.
Everyone stared at the screen in interest. Truth be told no one had ever been in that room except for Gobber.
He lights a candle and lays his sketchbook out on the desk, opening it to the drawing of Toothless. With a look of determination. Hiccup picks up a charcoal stick and re-draws the missing tail.
Stoick understood what Gobber meant now. Everyone else seemed to be catching on as well. They already knew Hiccup was a genius, but this was something else entirely.
DISSOLVE TO: INT. BLACKSMITH STALL – LATER CLOSE ON ... a creaking leather bellows. The stone forge glows with every pump. Tongs pull intricate iron pieces from the coals. They're dropped onto the anvil, twisted, lightly hammered, and dunked in a barrel. The pieces are carried to Hiccup's workbench and laid out in place on a one-to-one schematic. It's a sketch of a mechanical fin.
Viggo had a glint in his eyes. Just what else could Hiccup create given the right materials and inspiration?
Everyone else was in awe. Could Hiccup actually make a flightless dragon fly once more?
