Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is it. The moment you all have been waiting for. But I can assure you this isn't the final chapter. The final chapter will be an epilogue that will come after this one.

Chapter 33: The Night That Changed Everything

Three Months Later

Berk

August 25

Hiccup pressed his hands against the round stones of the roped bola as he placed it into the mouth of his latest dragon-catching invention, the Mangler. Once it was inside, he took a peek into the mouth where all five bolas had been stuffed.

"Yeah, I think that should be enough," he murmured to himself.

He stepped back to take a look at the Mangler. It resembled a wheelbarrow with a bow and canister attached to it.

The boatmill he had attempted to test out a few months ago may have been a disaster but Hiccup was confident that this time for sure the Mangler would work.

"Hope the dragons decide to raid tonight," Hiccup continued. "We haven't had a raid in weeks."

"Hiccup?" Gobber's voice called.

Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise and he hastily began to stuff the canister-and-bow-like parts of the Mangler back into its wheelbarrow. He had been so busy finishing this contraption that he had forgotten that it was his turn to sweep the floors…again! He did do half the sweeping but then he got caught up in his invention that he had forgotten all about it. And if Gobber had found out that he had been doing more inventing and less sweeping, he wouldn't be too happy about it.

"I hope you're sweeping in there," Gobber called as his footsteps got closer and closer.

Hiccup closed the top of the wheelbarrow, grabbed the broom that was leaning against a pillar and began to sweep as fast as he could.

"Oh, I'm sweeping all right," Hiccup called back with a nervous chuckle.

He was still sweeping as fast as he could when Gobber entered the room.

"See? All swept!" Hiccup pointed out.

"Yes, yes, I see," Gobber replied, "but not so fast. You're making dust fly up to high Valhalla."

"Right," Hiccup said, sweeping a little more slowly now.

"Okay, I think you've done enough sweeping for one night," Gobber said. "Come on, it's time for me to walk you home."

"Couldn't I walk home by myself," Hiccup asked, removing his apron and hanging it on a hook. "I'm old enough now…aren't I?"

"Well, I think you're old enough but you know your father feels more comfortable if I escorted you back to your house and since he's the chief I can't go against his wishes," Gobber said.

Hiccup pulled his brown fur vest off another hook and slipped it on him. "Yeah," he murmured.

As Hiccup and Gobber left the forge and walked through the town square, Gobber tried to cheer Hiccup up.

"Well, I for one think it's a good thing I get to escort you back to the old homestead. That way, in case a rogue dragon swoops down from the sky and tries to take you away like your mom, I'll be around to stop him." Gobber held up the axe attached to his left arm as if he were ready to strike any said rogue dragons.

"Speaking of rogue dragons, when do you think we'll have another raid?" Hiccup asked.

"You never can tell," Gobber answered. "Personally, I wouldn't mind if we never had another raid again. Fighting dragons may give you something to do but you've got to admit, it's getting a little tiring as is trying to locate that nest of theirs. But no matter what, your dad just won't give up on finding that nest."

"He never gives up on anything," Hiccup pointed out.

"Reminds me of another someone I know who'd never give up on anything," Gobber said, shooting a sideways glance at the boy.

Hiccup didn't answer but he knew what Gobber was talking about. Hiccup himself refused to give up on anything whether it was testing out his crazy inventions, catching dragons or bringing some good to the village. Although his failures had made him a laughingstock over the years, Hiccup just refused to give up. And there was no way he was gonna give up on the Mangler now!

As they approached the Haddock house, they noticed a piece of parchment nailed to the front door.

"Hmm, looks like your dad left us another note," Gobber said.

"He must be on night patrol again," Hiccup said gloomily. "He always leaves notes when he goes out on night patrol."

"Only one way to find out," Gobber said. "Go on, read it."

Hiccup removed the nail and note from the door and read aloud:

Hiccup,

I've gone on night patrol again. There's a bowl of chicken strew on the table for you. Hope you haven't been making any more ridiculous inventions at the forge today. And remember, if there's a dragon raid tonight, please, please, PLEASE stay indoors until it's over.

Dad

"So he is on night patrol again," Gobber said.

"Obviously," Hiccup said.

"Well, at least he's doing his job as chief protecting the village," Gobber said, still trying to lift Hiccup's spirits which wasn't working.

"But he's been going on these night patrols more than he usually does lately," Hiccup said, now sounding annoyed. "Sometimes I think he just goes on them 'cause he's too embarrassed to be in the same house with me."

"Well, maybe he wouldn't be going on all these night patrols if you learned to do as he asks once in a while just like he's doing in this note," Gobber pointed out.

"I try to do as he asks."

"Well, you're not trying hard enough."

"Gobber!"

"Just stating the facts."

Hiccup and Gobber were silent for a few moments.

"Do, uh, at least want me to keep you company while you eat your dinner?" Gobber offered.

"No, thanks," Hiccup said. "I prefer eating alone anyway."

"You can't spend all of your time alone," Gobber insisted. "It's not good for you."

"I'm used to it," Hiccup insisted.

Gobber sighed, his expression softening. "All right. I'll let you eat in peace. But if I run into your father, I'm gonna have a word with him."

"Like that's gonna do any good," Hiccup muttered.

Gobber started to walk towards the door and then he turned back to Hiccup. "You know, Hiccup, even though he may not show it, your father truly does love you. Why, after your mom was taken, he took it upon himself to raise you to be a strong, healthy boy. He refused help from anyone even mine, his own best friend. How he managed to do it is still a mystery to me."

"Yeah, well, I guess those days are long over, huh?" Hiccup said gloomily.

Gobber sent Hiccup another sympathetic look and then he walked out the door.

Hiccup approached the table where a bowl of chicken stew was waiting for him just as Stoick had said in the note. And judging from the steam rising from it, it was still hot.

Hiccup didn't feel like eating inside so he picked up his bowl and spoon and carried it out the door. Using his elbow to shut the door behind him, Hiccup walked down the steps and sat cross-legged on the grass with his bowl on his lap.

Hiccup looked up at the sky where the thousands of stars were just starting to pop out. He lifted his index finger.

"Two million one hundred fifty two, two million one hundred fifty three, two million one hundred fifty four…"

Hiccup lifted his spoon full of spoon and put it in his mouth. He chewed the warm bite full of stew without tasting it. Although he really was used to eating alone, it still would've been nice to have some company.

"If only there was someone who wouldn't mind being around my presence," Hiccup murmured. "Someone who wouldn't mind how clumsy I am and wouldn't find me so weird. Someone who would never say, 'Hiccup, please no more of this'." He held out his hand gesturing to an unseen presence. "But I'll probably never meet someone like that. Almost everyone I meet hates it when I show up."

…

Gobber was just halfway back to the forge when he spotted Stoick walking past the houses, a flaming torch in one hand.

"Hey, Stoick!" Gobber called, hurrying to catch up to him.

Stoick looked up.

"I was hoping I'd run into you," Gobber continued.

"Evening, Gobber," Stoick greeted. "Did you escort Hiccup back to the house?"

"Aye, he's safe and sound in the old homestead," Gobber assured him. "And that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."

Stoick shook his head and sighed heavily. They both knew that Gobber was about to give Stoick his usual "let Hiccup grow up" speech…for the umpteenth time.

"All right, let's hear it," Stoick said in a dreading tone.

"Well, for one thing, these past few nights, you've been spending more time doing night patrol than you do spending time with him," Gobber started.

Stoick opened his mouth to protest but then he paused as if debating what to say.

"Well, someone's got to be on the lookout for any intruders and/or dragons at night," he said at last. "And as the Chief, it's one of my duties."

"Yeah, well, you've been doing so much night patrol that Hiccup's starting to feel neglected," Gobber pointed out.

"I'm not neglecting Hiccup, I'm letting him grow up," Stoick insisted. "He's old enough now to spend some time at home alone. He'll be fine without me for a couple of hours."

"For someone who declares he's letting his son grow up, he practically starts babying him the next minute," Gobber grumbled.

"Babying?!" Stoick echoed incredulously.

"Well, it's true," Gobber argued. "You always say you're going to let Hiccup do the things you dreamed of seeing him doing," Then using his best (but awful) impression of Stoick he said, " 'Someday, Hiccup will discover worlds beyond our own, he will lead our people with pride and dignity, he'll fight every foe that dares to cross his path, he'll meet the lady of his dreams, he'll have children, yada, yada, yada'. You used to say he'd do all these things and I've yet to see him to them."

"When he's ready, he'll do all those things," Stoick argued.

"You keep saying that and then you either never let him do them or give him the chance to do them," Gobber replied.

Instead of arguing back, Stoick just glared at his friend.

"On another subject, Stoick," Gobber continued, "how much longer do we have to keep those dragons in the ring alive? The volunteers are getting skittish and/or sick and tired of going into the ring to feed and water them and then trying to get them back into their pens without getting eaten themselves. And I don't blame them. For creatures that have been living off weekly supplies of scraps and water for nearly five whole years, they're still as feisty and aggressive as ever. When that Gronckle isn't slow and lazy, it's as cranky as a bear that's been disturbed in the middle of its winter hibernation. That blue Nadder is probably the feistiest of them all. Absolutely refuses to keep still. As for that Zippleback, they cause more destruction than the twins ever do. You'd think the four of them, I mean the three of them, uh, well, you'd think they would make a team. Like all Monstrous Nightmares, the one we have is always trying to destroy everything in its path. You'd think this one was out for revenge or something. At our last raid, I managed to catch a Terrible Terror and add it to the extra pen in the ring. It may be small but first chance it gets, it'll attack the first person it sees. So are we gonna have them disposed of or not?"

Stoick nodded in understanding. "I think you're right, Gobber. It's time. Starting the day after tomorrow, you will gather the teenagers of this island and start their lessons in dragon fighting. The Gronckle, Nadder, Zippleback and Terror will be used as their opponents for the first few lessons but the Monstrous Nightmare will be saved for the recruit who reaches the top of the class."

"All right, I guess I can wait an extra day. I'd be happy to see the top student get rid of all five of them and not just the Monstrous Nightmare."

"YEOW!"

The scream came out of nowhere and it made Stoick and Gobber jump, something they rarely did for they liked looking tough.

"What in Thor's skivvies?!" Gobber cried.

"Come on, Gobber, let's go check it out," Stoick said urgently.

…

The sweet aroma of a freshly-baked pie filled Ruffnut and Tuffnut's nostrils. They were out about the town looking for ways to cause mischief before they turned in for the night (it was part of their constant devotion to Loki after all) when they caught a whiff of the pastry.

The twins crouched down behind a bunch of barrels between two houses and looked straight ahead of them. Right there resting on the windowsill of the house in front of them was the pie. In the darkness they could see the steam emerging from the cracks of the flaky crust.

"There it is, sis," Tuff said in a voice mixed with glee and mischief, "a freshly baked pie just for us."

"I'm sure our neighbors won't mind if we borrow a slice or two," Ruff added, nodding.

"Looks like the coast is clear," Tuff whispered as he and his sister looked all around to make sure nobody could see them.

"Quick, while we have the chance," Ruff said.

As quietly as they could, the twins crawled on their hands and knees towards the windowsill where the pie was waiting for them.

"Maybe I'd better get it 'cause my hands are stealthier than yours," Tuff suggested.

"Your hands may be stealthier than mine but I was the first to come out of Mom so therefore, I get to grab it," Ruff argued.

"How come you always get to do everything just because you were born first?" Tuff complained.

"Because! That's why," Ruff insisted.

"Well, I bet I could grab hold of the pie faster than you."

"Bet I could grab it twice as fast as you!"

"You're on!"

At the same time, Ruff and Tuff placed their hands on the pie pan only to forget that it had just come out of the oven and was still hot. The twins may had have been the sharpest tools in the shed but both their brains were still quick enough to send them the message that their hands were burned from the hot pie pan.

"YEOW!" the twins screamed.

They both let go of the pie pan which dropped to the ground. Crust and melting berries splattered on the ground.

"Uh-oh," the twins muttered, staring at each other in horror.

And to make matters worse, they could hear footsteps hurrying in their direction and they were so close that it was too late for them to try to hide. Stoick and Gobber rounded a corner and stopped when they saw the twins standing over the ruined pie on the ground.

"So it's you two whippersnappers, huh?" Gobber said, accusingly. "What are you up to this time?"

"Judging by that pie on the ground, I'd say you were trying to steal it," Stoick said, looking at the splattered pie.

Gobber shook his head. "And I thought the dragons were the worse thieves we could have around here."

"We weren't stealing the pie, Chief and Gobber," Tuff said innocently. "We were…"

"Protecting it from another pair of thieves that got away," Ruff spoke up.

"Yeah!" Tuff agreed. "We saw them trying to steal the pie and so we tried to stop them but they dropped the pie and took off that way!" He pointed in one direction.

"No, Tuff, they went that way!" Ruff argued, pointing in another direction.

"But there's nobody else out here," Stoick pointed out.

"Plus, we heard you screaming," Gobber added.

"Yeah, we screamed," Tuff said. "We screamed to startle the real thieves away."

"Sounded more like a painful scream that a starling scream," Gobber said.

"It was both a painful and a startling scream," Tuff said. "You see I twisted my ankle a few days ago and it still hurts."

He lifted his right foot, pretending to limp on it and let out a fake groan.

But from the looks of Stoick and Gobber, they clearly weren't buying it.

"Nice try, you two," Stoick said. "But I've known you long enough to know that stealing a pie would be a stunt you would likely pull. Now, I'm going to knock on the door, you're going to explain to these neighbors about what you did and you're going to apologize."

Ruff and Tuff pouted.

…

"HI-YAH!" Astrid shouted as she threw the axe at the pine tree.

The axe spun in a complete circle as it was hurled towards the tree and the blade landed smack-dab of the scented trunk. With a proud smile, Astrid rubbed her hands and walked over to the pine tree and pulled her axe out of the trunk without a problem.

Placing the handle on her shoulder, she headed back to the village. It was growing dark and the stars were just starting to come out. Most people were finishing their dinner or getting ready for bed at this time. But Astrid didn't feel like going to bed right now. Maybe she could gather a few buckets and start filling it with water.

Six months ago, she, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins were promoted to fire brigade and help put out any fires that the dragons would cause during their raids. It felt good to be part of the action but it wasn't the same as fighting the dragons. She knew her time would come but she was getting a little impatient. Some dragons were being kept in the pens of the Ring. They had been put there and kept alive for a long time so that she and the other teens would learn how to fight them. But how much longer were they supposed to be kept alive? And when was the first day of dragon training?

Astrid tried not to think about those questions and tried instead to think about filling some empty buckets with water. Even though there hadn't been a dragon raid in weeks, it was still important to be ready in advance in case they decided to show up tonight.

As Astrid arrived at the edge of the village, she heard a scream somewhere which almost made her drop her axe. Sounded like trouble. Whatever it was, she'd better find out.

She headed for the direction of the scream with a grim determined expression. She rounded a corner and what she saw made her grim determined look melt away in seconds. A few houses down, she could see Stoick and Gobber scolding the twins. Looks like they've been causing mischief again as usual. And it looks like tonight they tried to steal food because even from a distance, Astrid could see a splattered pie at the twins' feet.

Astrid shook her head as she headed for the well to fill the buckets. It was embarrassing enough that she had to be around those two muttonheads during fire patrol and it was twice as embarrassing that she had to be with Snotlout as well. It seemed he spent more time flirting with her than dousing fires. It wasn't so bad being around Fishlegs but it did get annoying when he would start talking about dragon facts whilst putting out fires.

But she knew that if the dragons did come tonight, she'd have to focus on her duty and not on the other teens.

…

Fishlegs sat cross-legged on his bed as he attempted to memorize every dragon statistic he had learned over the years but he'd been doing it for several hours and he was starting to get tired.

"Nadders breathe gel-like flames which is the hottest fire known to mankind," he muttered. "No, no, no. Nadders breathe magnesium. It's the Nightmares that spew gel. The statistics of the Hideous Zippleback is eleven plus times two stealth. No, no, no. Plus stealth eleven times two…no, no, no. I'll get back to that. Uh, the Terrible Terror: Attack 12 and Venom 8. No, no, no. Oh, maybe I'd better rest my eyes for five minutes before I finish memorizing my facts."

Fishlegs dropped face-first onto his wooden mattress and began to snore away. Instead of resting his eyes for five minutes like he had planned to, he had fallen right to sleep.

…

In his bedroom, Snotlout was shadow-boxing, pretending to fight rival Vikings and dragons.

"Take that, you mean old robber," he said with a devious smile. "You think you can come robbing my house, do you? Well, guess again. Uh-oh, here comes a herd of Zipplebacks. I'll get back to you, later! Pow, pow, pow! Take that you two-headed freaks! I'll decapitate every one of you if I have to. You're no match for Snotlout Jorgenson. That's me! Snotlout! Snotlout! Pow, pow, pow! Nah, that's not good enough. Hmmm. Oh, I know. Snotlout! Snotlout! Boom, boom, boom! No. Snotlout! Snotlout! Bing, bang, boom!...Snotlout, Snotlout, eeney, meeney, miney, mo! No!"

"Hey, boyo, will you keep it down in there!" his dad, Spitelout called from the room next door. "I can't hear myself sleep!"

"Whatever, Dad!" Snotlout called in annoyance.

His annoyed expression faded into a seductive one as he looked at his reflection in one of the many mirrors on his wall.

"Goodnight, handsome, I'll see you bright and early."

Snotlout kissed his reflection and then he kissed his bulky arm before sighing wistfully.

"If only Astrid were standing right next to this perfect reflection."

…

Dragons' Nest

August 26

Despite his fatigue, Toothless just couldn't get to sleep. And it didn't help that the Queen was twice as restless as he was for he could hear her tossing and turning and grumbling inside her mountain dwelling. He had learned to recognize it as one of the many signs that she was getting hungry. And when she was hungry, she got restless.

The tossing, turning and grumbling from inside the mountain grew louder and louder. The dragons that had been sleeping around him trembled in fear but Toothless wasn't scared. He had gotten used to those sounds over the years he had been here. Any minute now, he'd hear the all-too familiar roar of the Queen as she woke up.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Yep, there it was.

Although he was used to her deafening roars, Toothless still squeezed his eyes shut and pricked his ears back. Next came the sounds of her chomping teeth and the shrieks of dragons that attempted to escape or failed to escape. Soon the dragons that had managed to escape burst out of the cracks and holes around the mountain and headed off into the night sky. The dragons along the foothills took off from the beach and began to join the others.

Toothless sighed and took off himself. Despite him being the fastest flyer, he made sure to glide a little slower alongside the other herds.

…

Off the coast of Berk

August 26

As the humans' island came into view, Toothless started to slow down a little more until he was well behind the other dragon herds. Instead of continuing to follow them, Toothless sat down on one of the sea stacks surrounding the island and watched the dragon herds make their way towards the cliff base scattered with the humans' woodpile dens.

It was the same as always. Every time he and the dragons went to the humans' island, he, Toothess, would help with the fighting (without showing himself of course) but he didn't help with the stealing food (for it would risk showing himself before the humans). He would sit and wait while the dragons fought the humans and their shiny sticks and escape with whatever meat, fish or animal they could get their claws on. Then when the time was right, he would head for the woodpiles himself and frighten the humans with their blasts. And because his blasts made them scatter, the humans didn't bother to fight him back or capture him.

Toothless couldn't help but feel a little proud and overconfident. Maybe the humans might be able to catch the other dragons but they would never be able to catch him. They never had and never would catch him.

…

Berk

August 26

Hiccup sat up straight as the sounds of people screaming and animals growling woke him up. He knew those sounds all too well. After all, he had been hearing those sounds for fifteen whole years. But just to be sure, he had to take a look outside.

He slipped his feet into his fuzzy boots that had been resting beside his bed. Then he reached for his fur vest which was hanging on the bed post and slipped it on.

As he hurried down the stairs as fast as he could, the screams and growls were growing louder.

As soon as he reached the door, Hiccup opened it to find some of the Vikings and sheep running past his house, fearfully screaming and bleating respectively. A red Monstrous Nightmare was chasing after them.

The Nightmare paused from chasing and hovered as it turned its head in Hiccup's direction. Upon seeing the boy in the open doorway, it opened its mouth wide and released a stream of golden gel-like flames.

In the nick of time, Hiccup shut the door and pressed his back against it to keep it shut just as the Nightmare's blast had hit the other side. Hiccup could feel his back warming up from the strong flames on the other side of the door.

He knew he should be scared at a time like this but he wasn't. He was excited. Excited for he had a good feeling that tonight was the night he would finally have his big moment – the moment that would make his life better.

And he had just one thing to say to express his excitement:

"Dragons!"

…

Okay, everybody, start watching the first film right now!