The first thing Hiccup notices upon waking is how normal the morning seems. Birds sweetly chirp their morning songs outside his window as they begin their day. Peaking out over the distant horizon, the sun begins its climb into the endless blue sky. Its early morning light baths the hut overlooking the village in its rich glow. Stoick the Vast is not home to break this peaceful picture. However, this too is more normal than when the chief is home in the morning, and as much as Hiccup is ashamed to admit it, he likes these mornings better. They allow him to avoid the painfully awkward silence that occurs when father and son are at a loss for communicating with each other.
Yes, the morning is quite typical; nature is behaving as always, and peacefulness envelopes the house like usual. Even the bandage on Hiccup arm is a fairly ordinary occurrence (even though he hates to admit it). Everything feels normal. And yet, everything is so very different. Just the previous day, he'd shot down and befriended the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself. Today, he is going to start dragon training- training that is supposed to teach him how to kill the very friend he'd just made.
Lying in bed, Hiccup is dreading going to the arena. All of the other teens will be there and he can only imagine what will go wrong. New insults? New bruises? Hell, maybe they'll push him in front of a dragon and get him eaten (that is, if he doesn't manage to get himself eaten first). Honestly, if it wasn't for Toothless, Hiccup would consider calling in sick and just staying in bed all day. Doing that isn't an option, though. Back in the cove, Toothless will be waiting for him and Hiccup refuses to make his new friend wait. Throwing back the blankets, the Viking teen rises from his bed. He dresses quickly and grabs his satchel, slipping his journal, charcoal, and measuring tape into it. Then, he is rushing down the stairs and out the door.
Many people think of Hiccup as clumsy, and those people are correct. However, since they are so focused on his clumsy nature, they often fail to notice just how fast he can be. After all, he has to be quick if he wants to evade his bullies. Escaping his tormentors often leads him to flee to the woods where he can be alone in peace. Sometimes he'll wander the maze of trees for hours before finally making his way home.
Quick, clumsy, and very familiar with the woods, Hiccup can stumble his way through them faster than most people can with steady feet. He also knows the quickest way to get to Raven's Point. Beginning to move faster, Hiccup smiles eagerly; Toothless is waiting for him.
As soon as the sun rises in the sky, Toothless is awake. After the previous day he'd had, he could have slept for a lot longer. However, he doesn't know what time his human is going to show up and he wants to be fully awake when the Viking hatchling arrives. So the dragon lies out in the dew covered grass, hearing focused and eyesight sharp, waiting for Hiccup.
The gentle sunlight warms his scales comfortably and he practically purrs at the feeling. Though Toothless is currently unable to fly, he is fairly content. After all, he's made a new friend, and Hiccup has promised to fix his tail and make him fly again. While optimistic, the dragon is not naïve. He knows that restoring his flight will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, but he also knows that Hiccup will try his hardest, and that is good enough for Toothless.
Before waiting too long, the Night Fury picks up on the sounds of rustling greenery and hurried footfalls. His large ear flaps perk up in excitement. His human is coming! As happy as he is about just seeing Hiccup, he really has something else on his mind: food. Catching food is hard if you can't fly, and Toothless is getting hungry. He is hoping the boy will bring him something to eat. As the young Viking draws nearer, the dragon eagerly hops to his feet and moves to wait by the cove's entrance. It only takes a moment for Hiccup to make the climb down, and his green eyes light up when he sees Toothless waiting for him.
"Hey bud! Did you miss me?" He asks.
Toothless responds by giving him a big slobbery lick on the face.
"Yuck!" Hiccup exclaims as he begins trying to get the goop off his skin and hair. "That's disgusting!"
The Night Fury laughs deep in his throat and the sound of it is enough to put a smile on the boy's face. Hiccup's smile only grows larger when he remembers the main purpose of his visit.
"I have a surprise for you," Hiccup tells Toothless, looking away from the dragon to root through his bag for his measuring tape. He stops in surprise when he hears a low rumbling growl coming from the dragon. Shock and confusion seize the young Viking and he freezes.
Has he angered his friend somehow? Is Toothless mad at him? Hiccup sadness washes over him at the possibility that he might have already ruined this new friendship somehow. Slowly, Hiccup looks up from his bag, and what he sees just furthered his confusion. Toothless doesn't look angry at all; his ear flaps are raised high and his pupils are still large, giving him a playful expression.
Surprisingly, Toothless' innocent appearance only causes Hiccup more worry. If the growl hadn't come from Toothless, then it has to have come from somewhere else. A wild dragon lurking nearby? Nervously, Hiccup's eyes survey the cove and the trees surrounding the top. He doesn't see any wild dragons (unless Toothless counts), and besides, if there was an angry dragon in the vicinity, he doesn't believe Toothless would be so calm, especially if Hiccup was in danger. So that rules out the wild dragon theory. But then what else can it be? Just as Hiccup begins to consider new possibilities, he hears it again. A low, soft, rumbling growl. Now that the young Viking is listening closely, he realized it doesn't sound like an angry dragon at all.
Hiccup turns to face his friend again. "Toothless," he begins, "are you hungry?"
Right on cue, the dragon's stomach rumbles again. The Night Fury looks down and glares at it before peering sheepishly up at Hiccup. At first the teen begins to laugh at the look on Toothless' face, but he quickly sobers when he reexamines the situation. Toothless' stomach is growling because he is hungry. He is hungry because he can't fly to properly catch food. He can't fly because Hiccup has shot him down and crippled him. The boy grows somber when he realizes his friend is stuck in the cove starving and it is entirely his fault. He hasn't even bothered to bring Toothless any fish for Thor's sake! He is a horrible friend.
Hiccup walks over to Toothless and wraps his arms around his neck in a hug. "I'm really sorry bud. I didn't bring any food with me today, but I promise I'll bring a whole basket of fish tomorrow! For now, how about we catch you some?"
The boy pulls back to gauge his friend's reaction and the dragon gives him a big slobbery lick to let him know he is forgiven. Hiccup smiles, too happy to bother complaining about the sticky salvia running down his face. He simply wipes it off with his sleeve and begins putting his plan into action.
Dragons usually hunt and catch fish from the air, swooping down on their prey with ease. Having to catch their food from the ground takes away their element of surprise and makes the act more difficult, especially for a very hungry dragon that might not be performing at the top of their game. However, Hiccup is confident that together they can get some breakfast for the Night Fury.
"Wait here bud," Hiccup tells Toothless, setting his bag down before running around to the opposite side of the pond in the cove. The dragon stays where the human tells him, waiting to see just what plan the boy has concocted.
Hiccup crouches at the edge of the water and gives Toothless a mischievous smile. "Alright," he yells, "get read to catch some fish!" And the young Viking leaps into the water, yelling and splashing about excitedly. All the fish in the pond notice the commotion and flee in the opposite direction – right towards Toothless, who eagerly awaits their arrival with his mouth wide open. He gobbles up as many as he can as quickly as he can before sitting back with a content look on his face.
Hiccup emerges from the pond absolutely drenched. His saturated clothes cling to his slight frame while water droplets fall from his hair like a small rain shower. A cold wind blows through the cove, a signal that winter is fast approaching, and Hiccup's teeth begin to chatter loudly. Despite the chill he now feels crawling over his body, he is overjoyed. Toothless is no longer hungry and Hiccup has righted the wrong caused by his neglect.
Toothless is not as pleased, however. Though he has eaten and is physically feeling much better, the Night Fury notices Hiccup's body shivering and his teeth chattering. He knows enough about humans to know that this can cause problems for them, especially ones as small as Hiccup. Determined to warm up his Viking hatchling, Toothless walks over to him, nudges him towards the part of the cove that is bathed in direct sunlight, and he lies on the ground like he had earlier that morning. Hiccup smiles, immediately getting the message and curls up next to him, enjoying not only the warmth of the sun, but also the gentle heat radiating from his friend.
They stay like that for a while, the beat of the dragon's strong heart soothing Hiccup like a lullaby and almost putting him to sleep several times. However, as the sun continues its climb, rising over the trees at the top of the cove, the time for dragon training grows nearer and Hiccup's heart begins to sink. If it was up to him, he'd stay in the cove with Toothless forever, but his father wants him at dragon training and if he doesn't show Gobber will come looking for him. He definitely can't risk that, so he quickly takes the measurements he needs to construct the prosthetic tail fin, making notes of them in his journal, and says goodbye to his friend, promising he'll be back the next morning.
As Hiccup approaches the dragon killing ring, he notices the other teens are already present and eagerly waiting for Gobber to arrive. The sight causes knots to form in Hiccup's stomach. This is the place he will learn to kill dragons, and if they are anything at all like Toothless, he can't – won't – do it. Ever. His father will just have to learn to accept that. The presence of the other Viking teens doesn't make the situation any better either. These are his peers, the people that have ostracized him because he isn't a 'typical Viking'. It isn't exactly a welcoming environment.
So engulfed in his worry, Hiccup doesn't notice Gobber coming up behind him until the burly blacksmith speaks. "Nervous?" He asks.
Hiccup jumps a little at the sound of his voice, but nods. Gobber is like an uncle to him; if anyone is going to understand how Hiccup is feeling, it's going to be Gobber.
Gobber chuckles at the boy, but lays a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Your father isn't expectin' you to become the next great Viking hero; all he asks is that you learn to defend yourself. He worries about you a lot, you know."
"I know," Hiccup sighs, "and it's not just my dad I'm worried about." He eyes the teens in the ring warily.
"You look more afraid of them than you do the dragons!" Gobber jokes. You have no idea, Hiccup thinks. The blacksmith continues, "You really don't need to worry 'bout them either. Just as you're here for your dad, they're here to make their parents proud and do right by the tribe."
Hiccup hasn't thought about it from that perspective before, but it doesn't really make him feel any better. Their words and actions have hurt him on too many occasions for him to believe that dragon training with them will be anything less than a disaster. He doesn't really have a choice though.
Gobber gives Hiccup a not-so-gentle shove toward the arena. There isn't malice behind it, it's just that Vikings don't particularly do anything gently. Stumbling forward, Hiccup takes one last longing glance towards the woods, wishing he could have stayed with Toothless this morning. As soon as he enters the arena, all eyes are on him, conveying varying levels of annoyance and confusion.
"Who let Hiccup in here?" Snotlout grumbles.
"Oh my Thor!" Tuffnut exclaims, not bothering to answer him.
Ruffnut's eyes go wide. "You're alive?"
They both rush over to Hiccup and proceed to poke him. He swats their hands away in annoyance.
"Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?" He asks, more than a little confused.
"Well," begins Fishlegs, "no one has seen you since the dragon raid. Some people were wondering if you'd been carried off or eaten."
"Some people being those idiots over there," Astrid says, pointing to both the twins and Snotlout. "Not all of us were dumb enough to believe the rumors."
"Really?" Hiccup feels his heart swell a little with hesitant pride. Does Astrid have faith that he can take care of himself?
"Duh," she rolls her eyes. "If you had died, Stoick would have made some kind of announcement."
And his small sense of pride shrivels up before it ever really has a chance to grow.
Gobber strides into the arena behind Hiccup and orders all the teens into a line. "Listen up you lot," he shouts. "Today, you begin training to take your rightful place as full members of Hooligan Tribe. It is in this arena that you will learn to fight dragons and survive. I'll teach you to evade, entrap, confuse, maim, and kill the flying beasts. By the time you're through with your training, you'll be able to fight proudly alongside the adult members of the tribe."
The other teens smile enthusiastically, eager for the image Goober places in their heads to become a reality. They bounce on the balls of their feet, anticipating the adrenaline that will one day pump through their veins as the winged beasts attack their village and set homes on fire. They'll be promoted from the fire brigade, trading their pails of water for swords, maces, and axes.
Hiccup stands at the end of the row of teens, watching the excitement on their faces and feeling nothing but disgust. Since he's met Toothless, it is difficult for him to understand why anyone can want that. Now all he wants is to go back into the woods and hang out with his new scaly friend.
"As for today," Gobber continues, "we start out small. Can anyone tell me what the most important thing is in a dragon fight?"
"An axe?" Snotlout asks. His eyes wander over to the wall of weapons at the edge of the ring and settle upon the large axe gleaming in the sunlight.
"A doctor?" Hiccup jokes, fully understanding that while he isn't willing to hurt the dragons, that doesn't necessarily mean they won't want to hurt him.
Astrid rolls her eyes at both of their answers. "A shield." It isn't a question.
"Correct Astrid! It's good to pair it with a weapon, as Snotlout suggested, but your number one priority should be a shield. Everybody, go grab one." He gestures to the rack of shields next to the one of weapons.
The twins take off first, racing over to one painted with skulls. They argue and fight for a moment, before Ruff strikes him over the head with it. Tuff ends up settling for the one next to it that is painted with flowers. Snotlout grabs the shiniest one he can find and smiles at his reflection in the boss. The other three teens just pick random ones and head back to where Gobber is waiting for them.
"Today, you're not lookin' to kill, you're lookin' to learn. Understand?" The teens nod in response. "Now I said we're startin' off small, so today I introduce you to," he pauses and pushes down on the lever near the metal door on the wall, "the Terrible Terror."
The door begins rising slowly, and they can hear the metal gears churning ominously. Before it can get much high than their knees, however, a small green shape darts out of the shadows so quickly it is hard to see. But when they do, Tuffnut is the first to break the silence.
"Are you kidding me?" He laughs in disbelief, lowering his shield. "I'm supposed to be afraid of that? It's like the size of my-" He doesn't get to finish before it lunges right at his face. He yelps twice, the first one in surprise and the second in pain. It isn't a super intense pain, but he isn't pleased to feel the creature biting down on his nose.
"Help!" He yells, throwing his flailing arms out. "Get it off, get it off!"
His sister runs over to smack it off his face with her shield, but it darts away before she could make contact and ends up striking him in the face instead. "Whoops," she laughs.
It runs to Fishlegs next, skittering across the stone ground, and climbing up his leg. He screams and proceeds to run aimlessly around the area with his hands in the air. When he runs by Snotlout, the dragon flaps over to land on his back. The dark-haired teen spins in circles, trying to dislodge the dragon and fling it off.
"Can anyone tell me what it's doing?" Gobber asks, not passing up the chance to teach his pupils a lesson.
"It's trying to kill us!" Tuff yells, rubbing his very red and very sore nose.
Gobber just rolls his eyes.
The more Hiccup watches the Terrible Terror, the more it looks like it is playing and teasing them. As Snotlout keeps spinning in circles, Hiccup swears he could hear the little dragon laughing. It is actually kind of cute.
"It's switching targets to make it harder for us to attack," Astrid says. Her eyes haven't left the little green fellow since he'd been let out and her stance is battle ready. Hiccup has to fight the urge to tell her to loosen up. It's not like the Terror is going to kill them.
"Very good Astrid," Gobber commends. "It moves quickly, so never let it out of your sight. It could sneak up on you without you even knowing it's there."
Snotlout, now too dizzy to stand, topples to the ground and the Terrible Terror moves on. It runs to Hiccup next, crawling up his leg much like it had done with Fishlegs. It keeps going, circling around his stomach a few times. A laugh bursts from behind his lips, one he can't hold back. The little guy's claws don't hurt, in fact, they tickle. Finally, the Terror comes to rest on his shoulder. It sniffs at his hair for a moment before chittering happily and nuzzling the side of his face. He isn't sure what about his scent makes this dragon so happy, but he is glad it did. Hiccup smiles at the little guy's actions and gives him a little scratch behind the ear.
For a moment, he has forgotten where he is. Or he has, until someone's shield clatters noisily to the ground. He snaps out of his reverie and looks around. Everyone is staring at him, their jaws dropped and eyes wide. Even Astrid has dropped her shield, staring in disbelief.
Hiccup has to bite back a nervous chuckle. He isn't quite sure what to say to talk his way out of this situation. He's heard everyone say time and time again that dragons are killers, and here he is petting one. They probably think he is going crazy. So instead of speaking, he simply grabs the Terrible Terror off his shoulder and sets it on the ground in front of him. It cocks it head to the side and peers at him curiously.
Hiccup sighs and gestures back to its cage. "Go on," he says.
The Terror hesitates for a moment, but then goes just like he's asked. When Hiccup looks at the other Vikings in the arena, they look even more surprised than they had a moment ago. At a loss for what to do, he takes off. As he flees the arena, he can hear them whispering at his back.
Hiccup finds solace at the forge. After all, he needs to get started on Toothless' tail fin. It isn't going to build itself. He has just started the process of lighting the forge when Gobber barges in.
"There you are Hiccup!"
"Here I am." Hiccup chuckles nervously, turning to face his mentor. "Did you need something?"
"I wanted to talk to you after trainin' today, but you took off so fast that I didn't get the chance."
The young Viking just shrugs. "Well, there are only so many hours in a day and I've got a new invention I've been dying to work on." Hiccup is glad to able to tell a partial truth. He hates lying to Gobber, and it isn't the blacksmith's fault he is being forced into dragon training.
"Oh really?" Gobber asks, scratching his chin. "You're sure it had nothing to do with your behavior during training?"
"M-My behavior?" Hiccup swallows thickly, eyes darting back to the forge to avoid maintaining eye contact. He really doesn't want to talk about this.
Gobber sighs. "Lad, I've been teaching dragon training for many years now and I've seen a lot of different reactions to facing a dragon for the first time. Sometimes it's aggression, sometimes it's terror. I had one student faint dead away the second I let the dragon out of its cage! But the point is, I've never had anyone react the way you did today."
"Is that such a bad thing?" Hiccup knows what the answer is going to be before he even finishes asking the question. Anything different from typical Viking behavior is wrong, especially when dealing with dragons.
"Yes, it's a bad thing! Hiccup, we don't play with dragons."
"Come on Gobber, it wasn't doing any harm."
"You're lucky it wasn't. Its claws were by your neck and its teeth were inches from your face. At any second it could have attacked! I understand that Terrible Terrors are small and don't look like much, but you shouldn't underestimate them. You shouldn't underestimate any dragon."
Hiccup turns back around and begins using the bellows to feed the fire, wishing he'd ended the conversation sooner. "It won't happen again." Instead of taking his words as a cue to leave, Gobber places a heavy, calloused hand on his shoulder.
"I know you're not like other Vikings," Gobber sighs. "You see things differently and do things differently. But when it comes to dragons, there is no different way to deal with them. Your mother learned that the hard way."
Hiccup's breath catches roughly in his throat. His mother? No one ever really speaks of his mother, and now she is being brought up for the second time in less than two days? What really hurt is how they were talking about her. It seems her death is merely a tool Gobber or Stoick can bring up when they want Hiccup to do something. It makes his chest ache and causes a wave of guilt to rise within him.
Many Vikings meet their end while facing dragons, his mother included, and now his best friend is a Night Fury. He's witnessed the dragons' viciousness during the raids; he was on the receiving end of it just the other day, but now he feels like he is missing something. Toothless had been kind to him when not even other Vikings had done so and the Terror in the ring hadn't tried hurting him at all. It hadn't really hurt anyone, even Tuffnut; it just wanted to play. Being raised to think dragons are evil and finding out otherwise is making Hiccup question a lot of things. What really happened to his mother? Did she simply get carried off like everyone said or was there more to that story? There has to be, he refuses to think otherwise. His mind goes momentarily blank at the realization.
By the time Hiccup snaps out of his thoughts, Gobber has already left. For a moment, Hiccup wants to go track him down and demand some more information about his mother. He wouldn't ask about her death, even if part of him wants to. Instead, he'd ask about her life; no one ever talks about it – about her. Was she a good cook? Did she like to sing? Did she have any close friends? But the moment passes and Hiccup can't bring himself to do it knowing that Gobber won't give him any answers.
So, Hiccup decides that he won't think about his mother, his father, or his mentor at that moment. Instead, he focuses on his new friend. Toothless is out there in the woods right now, crippled because of something Hiccup has done, and if he doesn't create the tailfin, Toothless might never fly again. Hell, he might even starve. Hiccup can bring him fish for a while, but eventually people will notice that large quantities are going missing. Then what is he supposed to do?
Toothless is his main priority now, and nothing is going to get in the way of that, not even his mother. He pushes down on the bellows one more time and watches as the fire in the forge grows to the level he needs it at. Then he pulls out his journal and opens it to the page with the measurements he'd taken that morning. It is time to get to work.