A/N
Hey, I'm back again with another chapter. Hope you enjoy it. It only took me *checks calendar* 6 months to write it. Yay. Okay, I'm sorry it took so long, but that's just something you'll have to get used to with my stories. I also have even less time to write now because I started a YouTube channel (shameless plug). It's a reaction channel. Who could have guessed that the guy who writes reaction fics would have a reaction channel? Here's the link in case anyone is interested (it's also on my profile):
channel/UC-MU1EF3ZcJpBiv7kWNPwbA
And yeah that's it. The next thing I am writing is the next chapter for my Westeros Watches The Future Story which is going to take a while, but I might try to write the next chapter for this story in the meantime (it's a break chapter).
Lastly, if you find any mistakes/errors please point them out in the comments and I'll fix them.
"Hiccup, if your plan works I will promote ya to a fully-fledged blacksmith!" Gobber yelled over at his startled apprentice.
EXT. HIDDEN COVE – DAWN Hiccup arrives, winded, straining under the weight of a full basket. He clicks the scale he found (like a jar top). Toothless approaches, sniffing him.
"You carried that all the way there?" Snotlout asked. He was surprised Hiccup could even lift that.
"Yeah." Hiccup said. Snotout just nods, impressed. His cousin was a lot stronger than he thought.
Some of the villagers were just as surprised as the Jorgenson boy, but most already knew Hiccup wasn't weak. How else would he be a blacksmith apprentice if he wasn't able to lift their weapons?
HICCUP "Hey Toothless. I brought breakfast. I hope you're hungry."
"He named it Toothless?" Stoick asked. Gobber and Spitelout just shrugged. Stoick shook his head with a small smile. Only his son could name something like the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself, 'Toothless'.
Hiccup drops the basket and kicks it over. Fish spill out.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Okay, that's disgusting."
The dragons cried out in protest. "No, it isn't! It's divine!"
Toothless approaches, settling in to devour the feast.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Uh..we've got some salmon..."
Toothless swallows it.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "... some nice Icelandic cod..."
Swallows those too.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "... and a whole smoked eel."
All the dragons in the audience, except for the Typhomerangs and Skrill, screeched at the sight of the eel, greatly confusing the vikings.
Viggo, Mala, Throk, and Atali knew what was going on immediately. Dragons, except certain species, got sick if they ate eels.
Toothless growls at the eel. Hiccup grabs it and Toothless freaks out. Hiccup throws it away.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "No, no, no! It's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either."
"Dragons are scared of eels?" Spitelout asked. How could something as simple as an eel scare dragons? If they had known this earlier it could have made the raids a lot easier.
"Dragons will get sick if they consume eels. On top of that the bigger eels are known to sometimes kill dragons. It's only natural they would be afraid of them." Viggo explained to the clueless Berkians.
"Would ya look at that." Gobber said. Meanwhile, Stoick was thinking about covering Berk in eels, or at least their food storages and animal pens. It wouldn't stop the raids completely, but surely it would have some effects.
"So you'll get sick if you eat an eel?" Hiccup asked his brother from another mother who nodded confirming his words. "Well, let's hope that never happens."
Toothless focuses on the remainder. With the dragon distracted, Hiccup unwraps his prosthetic fin and opens it like a fan.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business."
"We need to teach you how to lie." Ruffnut said. Her brother offered Hiccup their services. "We could give you acting lessons."
Hiccup put a hand on his chin and thought about it. It's a shame he missed how Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Astrid were all shaking their heads with horrified looks on their faces. "You know what? I'll take you up on that offer." The three facepalmed.
The twins' faces lit up with joy and they both adopted mischievous grins. "Hiccup is finally joining our side!" Tuffnut said as he pulled his sister aside to have a hushed conversation.
"You think he'll make us some weapons of mass destruction in return?" Ruffnut asked her twin with a grin.
By now Hiccup realized what he had done. "I just made a massive mistake didn't I?" The rest of his group nodded.
Hiccup cautiously approaches the injured tail, but every time he gets near it, Toothless sweeps it away like a cat.
"Like I said, you're just a big cat." Heather laughed along with the teens before she got tail-slapped by the useless reptile. She gaped at Toothless as he smirked back. Looks like the kitty has claws.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "It's okay."
Hiccup drops a knee on top of the tail. Toothless' head juts up, slows its chewing to a halt.
"Haha, the look on his face!" Dagur was starting to like this watching-the-future thing. The idea of having his own dragon sounded better the longer this went on. Once they got a break he would ask Hiccup to get him a dragon.
"I was surprised okay? I thought my tail had somehow managed to grow back." Toothless grumbled as both the vikings and the dragons laughed at his on-screen self. "You would be just as shocked if you were in my position." Hiccup patted him on the head as Toothless sulked.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Okay...okay.."
The dragon tenses, slowly spreading his wings. Hiccup straps the prosthetic fin in place. He cinches the straps.
"Uh, oh…" All the vikings and dragons collectively uttered. Stoick, Gobber, and Spitelout tensed. They had a feeling that, just like everything else that happened to Hiccup, this would not end well.
Viggo leaned forward in his seat. He had no doubts Hiccup's invention would work, but the Night Fury, or Toothless as Hiccup named him, had no way of controlling the prosthetic.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (PLEASED) "There. Not too bad. It works."
Toothless BOLTS! He snaps his massive wings and takes to the air, carrying Hiccup with him.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Woah! No! No! No!"
The vikings inhaled sharply. This could not end well. Vikings were never meant to fly.
"You're flying on a dragon." Fishlegs said, awed.
"More like hanging on for dear life, but sure, you could say that I'm flying." Hiccup's dry humor was truly unmatched.
Hiccup struggles to hold on to the tail. As the ground speeds away, Toothless immediately TIPS into an uncontrolled bank and dive. Hiccup sees the folded fin rattling uselessly in opposition to its flared counterpart. Flap as he may, Toothless can't correct his trajectory.
"Why are you smirking?" Dagur asked the dragon hunter. The Berserker didn't see anything funny about the situation.
Viggo turned to Dagur and raised an eyebrow. Dagur shuddered, whenever Viggo looked at him it felt like he was being studied. "Hiccup has succeded in his efforts to return the Night Fury its ability to fly."
Dagur was incredulous. "What are you talking about? It can't fly. They are literally about to crash!" He pointed to the screen as if Viggo couldn't see what was happening.
The hunter rolled his eyes. "I am aware of that, but you see, the return of flight comes at a price. The Night Fury can only fly with someone's help as I'm sure Hiccup is about to demonstrate." He gestured to the screen right as Hiccup pulled open the tailfin.
Hiccup swallows his fear and crawls toward the folded prosthetic. He reaches it and YANKS it open. The flared, fan-like appendage catches the air, stabilizing the twisting tail.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (excited, terrified) "It's working!"
Toothless arcs just short of the water and climbs... high into the air.
It worked. It actually worked. No one could believe it. Not the dragons, not the berkians, the Defenders of the Wing, the Wingmaiden. Hiccup had managed to make a downed dragon fly once more. Only Viggo knew it would work. Hiccup was truly wise beyond his years.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yes! Yes, I did it."
He glances back at Hiccup, busily holding the tail open while trying to hold on. Toothless throws him off and crashes unable to steer the fin on his own.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"
"Was that really necessary?" Hiccup asked.
"I still didn't fully trust you at the time." Hiccup couldn't blame Toothless for that. He was the one who shot him down in the first place.
He bounces across the water's surface and takes a dive. Without Hiccup to operate the tail, Toothless does the same, plunging in a massive cannonball. Hiccup resurfaces, roughed up, but beaming. Toothless appears seconds later.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yeah!"
"Of course, you'd be happy about that." The teens rolled their eyes at Hiccup. Why did it seem like he enjoyed dangerous situations?
"Hey, it was progress wasn't it?" Hiccup shot right back and Mala, Throk, Atali, and Toothless backed him up.
EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS – MORNING GOBBER (O.S.) "Today is about teamwork. Work together and you might survive."
"Might survive?" Stoick and the teens' parents turned to glare at the blacksmith. Just how much danger had their kids been in? This was not how they remembered dragon training at all.
The meathead rolled his eyes at the worrisome parents. "It's fine. I was there the whole time. If anything happened I would have saved them." Not like he had to do much saving. After the lesson with the Nadder Hiccup just breezed through training with ease.
"I think he wants them to die." Dagur was honestly convinced that Gobber wanted them gone. Or maybe he just wanted to have some fun by messing with the teens?
Viggo found himself agreeing with the slightly deranged man. "I concur."
"Might survive?" Heather questioned the teens. She along with Atali and the Defenders of the Wing could not believe what they were hearing. How was this teaching them anything?
"That's Gobber for you." Hiccup's response was not very reassuring.
ON A DOUBLE-WIDE DOOR. Gas seeps through the cracks. It BLASTS OPEN. A cloud of smoke engulfs the ring, swirling around the paired-up teens. Astrid with Ruffnut. Snotlout with Tuffnut. Fishlegs with Hiccup. All carry buckets of water, poised to throw them.
"Oh, yeah. We'll finally get to see how you did that-that thing with the Zippleback!" Tuffnut said. The rest of Hiccup's group was curious as well, but by now they could guess it had something to do with his friendship with Toothless.
The Berkians watched on eagerly. Maybe this would show them how Hiccup went from the bottom to the very top of dragon training, surpassing even Astrid. Stoick, Spitelout, and Gobber were especially curious.
GOBBER (CONT'D) "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."
Viggo was starting to get to his wits end. "That's wrong. Only Zipplebacks work like that. Other species of dragons do not have that disadvantage." He was starting to lose all hope for these vikings.
(I honestly don't know about Viggo's reaction. In the movie they made the whole 'wet head can't light its fire' thing, but I'm rewatching RTTE right now and yeah that whole concept was completely forgotten about.)
"You never taught us how!" Snotlout glared at the blacksmith which only got him glares from the adult population of Berk.
"It's in the book of dragons, which I told you to read!" This time the vikings backed Gobber up.
The smoke encircles them, cutting them off from each other. The teens LISTEN and WATCH for any sign of the dragon.
FISHLEGS (muttering to himself) "Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its..."
HICCUP (TENSE) "Will you please stop that?"
Hiccup rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry Fish, I was just nervous."
"Oh, no it's fine. I wasn't really helping." Fishlegs reassured his friend. Pointing out all the ways a dragon could kill you as you were about to be attacked by it was the worst thing he could have been doing.
ON SNOTLOUT AND TUFFNUT Moving nervously through the fog, back to back. Snotlout is singing to himself to calm his nerves.
SNOTLOUT "If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna-" (spotting an approaching shape, terrified) "-There!"
Snotlout and Tuffnut HURL their water into the fog.
ASTRID "Hey!"
RUFFNUT "It's us, idiots."
Astrid and Ruffnut glared at the two. "You know, that was an honest mistake. They didn't do it on purpose." Hiccup tried to defend the two boys. The two in question were rapidly nodding along with Hiccup.
Astrid and Ruffnut are soaked.
TUFFNUT "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."
SNOTLOUT (TO ASTRID) "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure."
"They're dead." "It was nice knowing you lads!" "Poor fools." Those and similar comments came from the vikings as they mourned the loss of two young souls who were definitely going to die for saying that.
Hiccup held up his hands. "Never mind. Screw you guys. You're on your own now." He was not about to get mixed up in that. He ignored the betrayed looks he got from Snotlout and Tuffnut before the two got punched like their on-screen selves.
"That hurt." Snotlout said while holding his probably broken nose. Astrid should take some anger management classes.
Tuffnut agreed. "Yes, the betrayal really stings doesn't it?" Snotlout didn't even bother to reply, just rolled his eyes and went back to watching the screen.
Astrid ELBOWS Snotlout in the face. Ruffnut DROPS Tuffnut with a PUNCH to the throat. Tuffnut gets grabbed by something and pulled into the fog.
"Did they just take out two of their own teammates and watch one of them get taken by the dragon?" The lone dragon hunter asked the deranged Berserker heir.
"Sure did." Dagur replied nonchalantly not noticing Viggo's eye twitching ever so slightly.
"And now they're leaving him to his demise?" Viggo had no idea why Gobber wasn't going in to save the kid already.
"Yup."
Viggo closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slamming his head onto the table that was in front of him. "Stupid." Slam. "Idiotic." Slam. "Moronic." SLAM. "Vikings."
Dagur and whatever viking was close enough to see Viggo's breakdown stared at him in concern. The man in question slowly lifted his head back up and went back to watching the screen while pretending nothing happened. He swore that if this continued he would have a stroke before the movie finished.
ASTRID "Wait."
They FREEZE. A tail SWEEPS out of the fog, taking them down. Their buckets spill.
"Only two more buckets left." RandomViking69 said.
ON FISHLEGS AND HICCUP coming across them. They see the puddles of spilled water. Tuffnut runs out of the mist screaming.
TUFFNUT "Oh, I'm hurt. I am very much hurt."
"You look perfectly fine." Hiccup wondered what the Zippleback had done to him. "Actually, hey Zippleback from the arena did you even do anything to him?" He asked.
The vikings watched as the Zippleback moved closer to the group of teens. "No, we didn't hurt him." The left head finished as the right head continued. "We just scared him a bit."
Ruffnut punched her twin in the face. "See now you're actually hurt."
FISHLEGS "Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..."
"Not helpful Fishlegs."
HICCUP "Look out!"
A Zippleback head emerges out of the smoke. Fishlegs hurls his water at it, completely dousing the head. It leers and opens its mouth, spewing gas into the area.
FISHLEGS "Oh. Wrong head."
"You're almost as bad as Hiccup." Snotlout said. This scene really reminded him of Hiccup facing that Nightmare after shooting down Toothless.
"What's that supposed to mean?" "No, I'm not!" Hiccup asked while Fishlegs denied Snotlout's statement.
Hiccup gasped dramatically and put a hand to his chest. "Et tu, Fishlegs?"
GAS FLOWS around their legs. Fishlegs flees in a panic.
GOBBER "Fishlegs!"
"Gobber!" Fishlegs' parents were not happy with the meathead.
"Sorry!" Gobber chuckled sheepishly. On the inside, he was afraid of how Stoick would react to what happened next.
Beat. A clicking sound comes from behind them. Sparks flash in the smoke.
GOBBER (CONT'D) "Now, Hiccup!"
The other head sweeps out of the smoke. Hiccup hurls his water with all his might. It arcs and drops short of the dragon's sparking mouth. The dragon grins, savoring the kill.
HICCUP "Oh, come on!"
Some of the vikings shot their heir sympathetic looks. They all had to start somewhere. He wasn't the first person to completely miss the dragon, they could attest to that. At least he didn't spill it on himself.
GOBBER "RUN, HICCUP!"
Gobber COVERS his eyes.
"GOBBER!" Stoick shouted as he went to throttle his friend.
"Stoick!" Spitelout tried to hold back his brother-in-law from strangling the blacksmith. (I'm not exactly sure what's canon, but since I'm making Hiccup and Snotlout cousins like in the books I'm making Stoick and Spitelout brothers-in-law.)
"Bucket!" Bucket threw his hands in the air while announcing his name. He was met with amused and exasperated looks.
"Tuffnut!" The male twin received flat looks from his friends. "What? Everyone else is doing it."
GOBBER (CONT'D) "Hiccup!"
Beat. The Zippleback hesitates. SNIFFS. Then retreats. The teens get to their feet, watching transfixed. Gobber peeks through his fingers to see… The Zippleback backing away from Hiccup. He stands and holds his hands out, as if controlling it.
HICCUP "BACK! BACK! BACK! Now don't you make me tell you again!"
The vikings stared at the screen completely transfixed. Sure they had all heard of how good Hiccup was, but they had only seen his last trail when he had to go up against Astrid since most of them were away to search for the nest.
The Zippleback retreats through its door and into its cave, hissing.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yes, that's right. Back into your cage."
"Odin's beard." Stoick could not believe what he was seeing. Just how did Hiccup learn to do that from spending time with the Night Fury? He was… proud. He really was. Just yesterday he would have been disappointed that his son wasn't trying to kill the dragon, but after that Night Fury… maybe there was a different solution. 'He really is just like you Val.'
Hiccup slyly OPENS his vest, revealing the spotted smoked EEL from earlier. He TOSSES it inside the door, then SLAMS it shut.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Now think about what you've done."
Stoick shot out of his seat and cheered. "HAHA, that's ma boy!"
Hiccup looked at his father in shock. "Y-you're happy?" He along with his group had expected curses to start flying his way once it was revealed how he had gotten so good.
Now it was Stoick's turn to be confused. "Aye, why wouldn't I be?" Then again they weren't on the best of terms right now so maybe he should have expected that reaction from his son.
"Aren't you disappointed that I'm using tricks to win?" Honestly, Hiccup wanted him to be disappointed. It was something he was used to, something he knew how to deal with, but pride? It was a foreign concept to him and he wasn't sure what to do now that he was finally getting what he had yearned for so long.
"Lad, dragon training is about using your environment to your advantage. If we had known that they were scared of eels we would encourage you kids to use that." Gobber said and Stoick along with most of the Berkians nodded in agreement.
"You went above and beyond to beat the other recruits fair and square." Spitelout added. He had to admit he was impressed with his nephew. While his son had Hiccup beaten in physical strength Hiccup still had a lot of strengths of his own, mainly his mind and agility.
"The goal is to incapacitate the dragon, but how you do that is up to you." Stoick looked back on how he'd tried to train Hiccup in the past. He always tried to get his son to bulk up and fight like every other viking, but now he saw how foolish that had been. Hiccup didn't have the physical strength to fight like regular vikings, he could lift the weapons just fine, but he wouldn't be able to use them in combat.
What Hiccup did have was his mind. His son was probably the smartest viking on Berk and now he was using that to his advantage. It was one of the qualities he would need as the future chief. The only thing he lacked when it came to leadership was confidence. Though given recent developments perhaps he would gain that confidence.
Hiccup was speechless. He had no idea what to say after what he'd just heard so he turned his attention to the movie. He would have to talk to his dad later. Preferably in private.
Hiccup closes the cage and turns to the teens and Gobber. They stare, slack-jawed.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Okay! So are we done? Because I've got some things I need to..."
Hiccup jogs out of the ring, past the speechless group.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yep...see you tomorrow."
Astrid looks at the cage and right back at Hiccup along with the rest of the shocked teens.
Viggo smirked to himself. In the back of his mind, he registered how the Berserker heir was cheering for Hiccup. He wondered what else Hiccup had discovered while bonding with the Night Fury.
Toothless was in the process of teasing the teens and embarrassing Hiccup. Yes, Hiccup had forgiven them, but seeing their surprise at something his brother had done would always give Toothless some excitement. Dragons hold grudges for a long time. Their entire lives to be precise.
INT. BLACKSMITH STALL - HICCUP'S CLOSET – CONTINUOUS Hiccup cuts and stitches leather, draws and shapes steel. He works by candlelight. An overhead shot reveals what he's building: a harness, complete with handles and foot pedals.
"Did you teach him that?" Stoick asked his friend.
Gobber scratched his chin with his hook hand. "Eh, I taught him the basics, but after that, he learned everything on his own." He conveniently left out how he barely understood some of Hiccup's inventions.
EXT. COVE – DAY Hiccup appears before Toothless, holding the new prosthetic. Toothless runs off as Hiccup chases him down.
HICCUP "Hey!"
"They seem to have developed a brotherly bond." Atali said to which both Throk and Mala nodded. She couldn't help but compare it to the bond the wingmaidens had with the baby Razorwhips even though they were completely different.
EXT. COVE – DAY Toothless and Hiccup are zooming over the lake in the cove. Hiccup fulls the rope holding the tail too hard sending them both crashing into the water once more.
HICCUP "Yeah! Whoa!"
INT. BLAKCSMITH STALL – LATER Hiccup adjusts the harness and uses a metal clamp to affix himself to Toothless' saddle.
Astrid nodded. "At least you won't fall off anymore." Hiccup just stayed quiet knowing exactly what happened later.
EXT. SKY/FIELD – DAWN Hiccup and Toothless zip through the air - his rudimentary harness and tail controls are working, barely. They crash-land in an open field.
"Again? Just how many times did you crash?" Heather asked. What was it with Hiccup putting his safety at risk?
"Too many to count." Hiccup's answer earned him a lot of deadpans from his friends. Safe to say they were not amused, except for the twins.
Tuffnut came up with a truly brilliant idea. "Let's make a list of how many times he crashed!"
Ruffnut snapped her fingers. "Good idea!" She pulled a piece of paper and some charcoal out of nowhere and started writing the list.
"He's on crash 3 now." Astrid supplied for which she received a shocked look from Hiccup. She just smirked back at him.
Hiccup recovers to find Toothless still rolling around in the tall grass, purring like a cat. Hiccup discovers that it's a patch of 'dragon- nip.' Toothless writhes on his back, tongue wagging, in complete bliss. He holds some of the grass in his hand as the camera switches to the arena.
Fishlegs turned to Hiccup ready to ask Gods know how many questions about what he'd just seen. Hiccup knew Fishlegs well enough to know it would be better to do this somewhere else and not bore everyone to death with their 'nerd talk' as Snotlout would call it. "I call it dragon-nip. It has a calming effect on dragons. I'll tell you all the details later."
"Would ya look at that? It's like cat nip." Gobber couldn't help but compare little balls of fluff to giant fire-breathing lizards. "Do you think we could use this during the raids?"
Stoick rubbed his chin. "Probably, but I don't think you'll find many people eager to get right in front of a dragon's mouth." He couldn't think of anyone crazy enough to do that. Maybe Dagur, but even he had to value his life enough to not go on a suicide mission.
EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS – MORNING Hiccup is holding the grass as the Gronckle spots him. It flies toward him. He holds out the grass and the dragon stops in front of him sniffing at the grass, it's pupils dilating. He rubs his nose with the dragon nip and takes down the Gronckle.
To the spectators it looks like he took down the dragon with nothing more than his bare hands.
Except for his son. Granted he looked nervous and unsure, but still decided to try the dragon nip rather than running from the Gronckle.
"I think we just found our volunteer." Gobber didn't actually believe Hiccup would willingly put himself in harm's way just to prove a theory. The dragon-nip calmed down a Night Fury and a Gronckle, but there was no way to know if it would work on a Nightmare or the other more aggressive dragons that didn't show up during raids.
EXT. WOODS – AFTERNOON The recruits walk home together, surrounding Hiccup and BOMBARDING HIM WITH QUESTIONS.
FISHLEGS "Hey Hiccup, I've never seen a Gronkle to that before."
TUFFNUT "How'd you do that?"
RUFFNUT "It was really cool."
He squirms and invents an excuse.
HICCUP "I left my axe back in the ring." He turns and hurries back almost crashing into Astrid. "You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up with you."
Astrid watches him run, suspicious.
"Didn't your axe get destroyed by the Nadder?" Heather asked.
Hiccup nodded. "It did. I'm surprised none of you noticed that." He directed his words at the other teens. They avoided his gaze and chuckled sheepishly.
EXT. COVE – LATER Hiccup rubs Toothless behind the ear. He accidentally scratches his pressure point causing him to relax and fall over.
'So that's where a Night Fury's pressure point is.' Viggo stashed that bit of knowledge away for later. He did not intend to make an enemy out of Hiccup, but there was always a chance it would lead to that.
"What!?" Dagur cried out. "How did he do that?" He'd never seen or even heard of someone knocking out a dragon that easily. Whether it would work on other dragons was a different matter entirely. Perhaps it was just a Night Fury thing.
EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS – LATER Astid throws her axe at the Nadder, but it merely bounces off. The Nadder approaches Hiccup who drops his mace.
Just as Astrid moves in to strike, Hiccup performs his special rubbing technique, which sends the Nadder down. Astrid and the other kids look on from the sideline in amazement.
The Berkians were mesmerized. Their future chief could take down dragons with his bare hands. The only one of them who could come close to that was Stoick. Like when he took down that Nightmare by delivering a few strong punches to its jaw.
INT. MEADE HALL – CONTINUOUS Hiccup sits down at a table to eat. The other recruits notice him and move over to his table to talk to him – leaving Astrid alone.
FISHLEGS "Hey Hiccup!"
SNOTLOUT "What was that? Some kind of trick? What did you do?"
TUFFNUT "Hiccup, you're totally going to come in first, there's no question."
"You know, that's the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen." Hiccup released a tired sigh. Why couldn't things just go in his favor for once?
"Indeed. Being forced to kill a dragon right after you discovered that peace was an option. I don't envy you." Tuffnut spoke eloquently, greatly surprising his friends.
Ruffnut was a little irritated at their lack of faith in them. "What? We read books and learn some big words too, you know?"
"We just choose not to use them." Tuffnut would never admit it, but some of the things he read were actually interesting, but random destruction was still more fun.
EXT. COVE – LATER Hiccup is using a mirror-like object to create a patch of light on the ground. Toothless claws and chases the light patch like a cat chasing a laser pointer.
"How could you?" Toothless smacked Hiccup on the back of his head.
Hiccup didn't even try to hide the smirk on his face. "It was funny watching you act like a cat. Besides, you had fun didn't you?"
Toothless narrowed his eyes. "Because of this grave insult, I won't help you with securing your mate anymore." He expected Hiccup would blush and accept defeat.
Hiccup's smirk vanished. "I see. Always remember this Toothless: I control your food supply." His threat was clear to everyone. Toothless still remembered the eel Hiccup had brought the first time.
"To think I would be betrayed by my own brother." But Toothless wasn't mad. He was impressed. Usually, Hiccup would turn into a blushing mess after hearing anything about Astrid. He was finally gaining that confidence he so desperately lacked.
'What just happened?' The teens could not comprehend what had just transpired. Hiccup had indirectly admitted he appreciated Toothless' help in wooing Astrid.
And he did that while sitting right next to her. 'You got guts cuz." Snotlout secretly praised him and prayed for Hiccup's safety. Whenever he said or implied anything like that he usually got punched in the face, occasionally kicked, and he expected Hiccup would meet the same fate.
Except that didn't happen, because the girl in question was too preoccupied with her thoughts while getting elbowed by a smug Heather. What those thoughts are is something I'll leave to your imagination you fucking degenerates.
EXT. TRAINING GROUNDS – DAY A beam lifts from the door of another dragon pen.
GOBBER "Meet the Terrible Terror."
A tiny, pint-sized dragon steps out and moves toward the recruits. The Terror licks his eye as he watches the teens.
"It's me!" The Terror screeched. Other Terrible Terrors gathered around him and praised him for being granted the honor of being shown on the screen. The high-pitched screeching sounds greatly annoyed the other dragons. "Damn, vermin." A titanwing Nightmare snarled.
TUFFNUT "Ha. It's like the size of my-"
Tuffnut is taken down in a blur.
TUFFNUT (CONT'D) "Get it off! Get it off! Oh! I'm hurt, I am very much hurt!"
Hiccup stops the Terrible Terror with the same light-patch trick he used earlier with Toothless. The tiny dragon retreats back to it's cage. The teens approach him yet again as Astrid looks on with suspicion.
TUFFNUT (CONT'D) (TO ASTRID) "Wow, he's better than you ever were."
"Was that really necessary Tuffnut?" Hiccup asked. Tuff and Ruff had proven they weren't as stupid as everyone made them out to be, so why did he have to say that? Perhaps the twins just loved chaos enough to piss off an already angry Astrid Hofferson.
"Well, he's not completely wrong." Astrid's answer baffled them. "I'm the better fighter, but I think we can all agree that there is no one who understands dragons better than Hiccup does." No one disagreed with that. They didn't know anyone who understood dragons on the same level as Hiccup. Maybe Mala, Throk, and Atali, but all the teens knew about them was that they didn't want to kill dragons. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get to know them whenever they get another break.
CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - MOMENTS LATER Astrid furiously hurls her axe at a nearby tree. She almost throws one at Hiccup who was walking by in the distance, carrying one of his trademark harnesses.
She quickly tries to follow, but he loses her in the woods. She HUFFS, frustrated.
"I hid behind the rock. I was right underneath you." Astrid's face turned pink. How didn't she realize that? It got even worse once she saw some of the adults come to the same conclusion and chuckle. And why were her parents sending her amused looks? Shouldn't they be disappointed she made such a rookie mistake?
Toothless leaned in to whisper. "Hiccup, I don't think it's a good idea to embarrass her any further." Astrid probably didn't even hear them since she was too preoccupied with glaring at everyone who was teasing her. Mainly the twins.
"What happened to not helping me anymore?" Hiccup asked. Did the useless reptile learn his lesson?
"… You control my food supply." It seems he did.
EXT. COVE – LATER Hiccup straps a newly designed harness onto Toothless. With Toothless tied to a nearby post with a rope. Hiccup rides him in the air - while stationary. Toothless looks like a giant kite tied to a tree stump. This harness seems to work.
He marks down the tail positions on a piece of paper.
Viggo narrowed his eyes at the screen. Something didn't add up. "Hiccup, would you be so kind as to answer a question of mine?"
"Uh… sure." Hiccup didn't trust the man. Mala had earlier informed him that Viggo was a dragon hunter so he was hesitant.
"Whenever your inventions failed what did you do with them?" He got straight to the point. This was something that had been bothering him since the beginning of this viewing.
"Well, when something failed I had to dismantle it." (Not sure if this is canon, but it's what I'm going with)
Viggo looked towards Stoick and Gobber who confirmed Hiccup's words. "I see." Now it made sense why every single one of his inventions failed. Since the artificial tailfin was something Hiccup was creating in secret he could take a step back and improve the design if something failed while for all his other inventions he only had one shot at making them work.
Viggo sighed. It was a complicated situation. Hiccup's inventions shouldn't have been scrapped after just one attempt, it was almost impossible to get something right on the first try, but Hiccup should have tested these things away from his village.
EXT. SKY - MOMENTS LATER The rope breaks and the pair CRASH into a tree. Hiccup's face is red. The harness is stuck.
HICCUP "Oh, great."
"Crash number 4!" Tuffnut cheerfully called out while his sister wrote it down.
"I wonder how he got out of that one." Stoick couldn't see how his son would solve this situation. Unless the dragon could simply break the harness.
Gobber shrugged. "Eh, he probably had some tools lying around in the cove." He was sure Hiccup would have considered a situation like this and adequately prepared for it.
EXT. BERK – NIGHT The streets are empty save for a lone Viking who crosses Hiccup's path.
VIKING "Hiccup."
Hiccup nods, trying to look casual. Toothless comes out from behind the building looking at the viking who just passed them. Hiccup leads him to the Blacksmith stall.
Everyone's jaws dropped. The viking who was out on patrol that night shrunk into his seat and tried to make himself invisible.
Unfortunately, Dagur was the one to spot him. "Are you blind or something!?" If these were Berks lookouts then bypassing their defenses for a nighttime raid would be child's play.
Stoick looked at the man like a parent scolding their child. "We are going to talk about this later." He gulped. "Yes, Chief."
Toothless PRESSES himself inside, rooting through stuff and making a racket. Astrid, walking nearby, is alerted.
ASTRID (O.S.) "Hiccup?"
Hiccup FREEZES. Then frantically tries to pry the ring off the saddle hook. It won't budge.
ASTRID (CONT'D) "Are you in there?"
Too late - she's right outside. ON ASTRID walking along the outside of the Blacksmith's.
"Is this where you found out abo-" "No." Snotlout was abruptly cut off by the blonde who refused to elaborate any further. She just now realized the entire village, including her parents and the Chief, would see her flight with Hiccup.
The Berkians were speaking excitedly. This ought to be good. They would never admit it, but they sure loved the drama, the suspense. And it's not like Astrid actually found out about Toothless, if she had she would have told the whole village.
Hiccup JUMPS OUT the window and CLOSES the shutters behind him. Hiccup's harness line is stretched through the window, still attached to Toothless' saddle.
HICCUP "Astrid. Hey! Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid."
Facepalms could be heard throughout the entire theater. "You're only making yourself look more suspicious hatchling." The Nightmare from the arena said while shaking his head. The hatchling really had to learn how to lie.
"Oh, lay off him, will you? He's just nervous in front of his mate." One of the Nadders chided him. As far as she could tell the brown-haired hatchling was trying to court the blonde one.
A random Gronckle perked up. "Yeah, what if this was during the vikings' mating season?" Yeah, dragons didn't have the best understanding of how humans worked.
Hiccup dropped his head into his hands. "Oh Gods why me?" He whispered. Why was his life a source of amusement for everyone but himself? He would have to teach the dragons about human courtship to avoid misunderstandings like this one. At least it wasn't just him. Astrid was catching strays as well.
"Isn't it always mating season for vikings?" A confused Typhoomerang asked. He'd seen enough to know vikings mate at random times. Perhaps they didn't have a specific time of the year to mate?
Gobber raised a brow. "Well, the dragon ain't wrong about that one." A lot of the vikings were choking on their laughter.
ASTRID "I normally don't care what people do, but you're acting weird."
Toothless spots a nearby sheep and makes a move toward it. As a result, Hiccup is suddenly PULLED TIGHT against the window shutters.
ASTRID "Well, weirder."
"A perfect explanation of what my life is like now." Hiccup said as he glared at Toothless, his previous embarrassment now forgotten. Why did he have to chase that sheep? It was almost as if he was trying to get them caught.
He STRIKES A POSE to compensate... then gets PULLED THROUGH the shutters. They snap back in Astrid's face. Astrid reopens them and finds nothing but an empty stall. In the distance, Toothless and Hiccup slip off unseen.
The Berkians sighed in relief. Then they realized something. Shouldn't they hope Hiccup gets caught? Then again he proved that peace is an option. Things were so much simpler when the only solution was to fight and kill the dragons.
Hiccup wondered what would have happened if Astrid found out about Toothless that night. He certainly couldn't have kidnapped her in the middle of the village. She would have alerted someone, probably the whole village, with her screaming. He sent a quick prayer in thanks to the Gods. Perhaps he wasn't as unlucky as he thought.
EXT. DOCKS – DAWN A lone, battered ship is 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.
The vikings who went on that trip groaned. Another failed search for the nest. At least it was the last one before winter so they would have a few months long break. Maybe Hiccup could try to get the dragons under control and stop the raids? It wasn't that they didn't love a good fight, but it was getting exhausting. And deep down they all knew the raids were a war of attrition and they were on the losing side.
Toothless saw his rider sigh. He laid his head in Hiccup's lap to hopefully offer him some comfort. Looks like he was still beating himself up over that. Why did Stoick have to make that comment about looking after Hiccup when no one volunteered to go on the nest search?
Gobber hobbles through the MUMBLING crowd to find Stoick - last to disembark and glowering with battered pride.
VIKING "Where are the other ships?"
SPITELOUT "You don't want to know."
'They should all be dead.' Viggo thought to himself. If the dragons had wanted to kill them then they would have done so. 'The dragons let them get away on purpose.' They were raiding the viking tribes for food but left enough to make sure the vikings wouldn't starve out. The Berkians at least were certainly not lacking food. 'The dragons want an easy supply of food.' But they didn't need it. They could hunt for fish. It was easier and less dangerous for the dragons. He was missing something, some crucial piece of information.
Stoick lumbers past Gobber, leaving him staring at the trashed ship.
GOBBER "Well, I trust you found the nest at least?"
STOICK "Not even close."
GOBBER "Ah. Excellent."
Mala shook her head. Any search for the nest was doomed to fail from the start. The fog made it impossible to see anything. The dragons surely had patrols to deter any ships from entering. How else would that Monsterous Nightmare have attacked the Berkian fleet almost as soon as they entered the fog? And lastly, it was enemy territory, a huge disadvantage for any invading force. The Berkians would either give up or eventually bleed themselves dry by continuing this fruitless endeavor.
Gobber follows Stoick up the ramp and snags his duffle bag with his hook appendage, sharing the burden.
STOICK "I hope you had a little more success than me."
GOBBER "Well, if by success, you mean that your parenting troubles are over with, then... yes."
Stoick stops. What does that mean? A group of merry villagers rush past.
VIKING #1 "Congratulations Stoick! Everyone is so relieved."
VIKING #2 "Out with the old and in with the new, right?!"
VIKING #3 "No one will miss that old nuisance!"
VIKING #4 "The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"
"You know I always expected that they would react like that if I had died. I guess I wasn't completely wrong. They thought the old me died and was replaced with a dragon-killing prodigy." Hiccup casually threw that one out.
The vikings who said those things cringed. Without context, it did sound like Hiccup died. What their heir said was correct as well. They did believe he had become a prodigy.
Stoick glared at the screen. He was angry with himself. With the villagers as well, but mostly with himself. He should have tried more instead of giving up. Maybe he would have been able to convince Hiccup to create things for the village instead of making dragon-killing inventions.
"I don't think so." Snotlout said. "The only person who would actually celebrate your death would probably be Mildew." Enough said.
Stoick is stunned, overwhelmed by the insensitivity. He turns to Gobber.
STOICK "He's... gone?"
Hiccup swore he could see a hint of fear in his father's eyes. 'He does care, he just… doesn't understand me.' This movie was a great chance for his father to finally understand that the viking way wouldn't work for him. There was a chance he could convince him to pursue peace with the dragons. However, that would require him to stop the raids. Which he couldn't do. Not yet at least.
GOBBER "Yeah...most afternoons. But who can blame him? I mean the life of a celebrity is very rough. He can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by his new fans."
Stoick is doubly confused.
STOICK "Hiccup?"
GOBBER (BEAMING) "Who would've thought, eh? He has this...way with the beasts."
CUT TO: EXT. SKY – AFTERNOON Toothless and Hiccup soar through a perfect blue sky. Billowing clouds rise like mountains. The ground seems miles below them.
"Are you insane!?" Some vikings shouted once they saw how high up Hiccup was flying. Stoick sucked in his breath as did Gobber. This was it then. His first-ever true flight over the open ocean. They were somewhat reassured since this had happened in the past and Hiccup had been just fine, but it was still nerve-wracking to watch.
"Didn't we already conclude that, yes, I am insane?" Hiccup was secretly panicking on the inside. Just how would they react once they saw him fall off and nearly die?
The dragons were chatting excitedly about what they were seeing. This was the hatchling's first real flight! "They grow up so fast." The Gronckle from the arena pretended to wipe imaginary tears.
HICCUP "Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow."
Hiccup checks a leather cheat sheet, clipped onto his harness. Inscribed upon it are several tail positions and their pedal position equivalents.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Here we go. Here we go...position three, no four."
He presses the pedal, causing the tail to flare. They roll off into an arcing bank, gloriously lit by the late afternoon sun.
Viggo leaned forward in his seat. While he may be a dragon hunter he could appreciate the view. He noticed Dagur was doing the same. Had the deranged man changed his views on dragons? Or perhaps he simply wanted a dragon to fly and cause destruction with.
Hiccup tucks tight against his neck, thrilled that his new harness and vest are holding. The foot controls make the tail appendage quick and responsive. He watches Toothless' every fluctuation, trying to match it with the prosthetic.
Hiccup sizes up a target - a towering arch of stone, rising from the sea.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Alright, it's go time. It's go time."
Viking and dragon alike leaned as close to the screen as possible to make sure they did not miss a single thing.
They dive low toward it, one of Toothless' wings touching the water, lining up to pass through the arch.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!"
Hiccup stares up nervously.
"Why are you so nervous?" Atali couldn't help but notice. He was mostly fine until he got close to that arch.
"Well, I'm convinced nature hates me ever since my shield got stuck between those rocks. I expected the whole thing to come crashing down on me." Hiccup said. He wasn't wrong, it did seem like every force of nature was against him.
Gobber who overheard their conversation laughed. "With your luck, I wouldn't be surprised if it did." Let it be said that Stoick did not find that the slightest bit amusing.
They zip through the arch. A perfect maneuver.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yeah! Yes, it worked!"
Cheers could be heard coming from both sides as they watched Hiccup actually avoid disaster for once. Even nature decided to leave him alone for once. The boy in question was dumbfounded at how everyone was reacting. Though he had to admit the awe-filled looks on the vikings' faces made him feel quite proud of himself.
The triumph is short-lived. They smack into one of several sea stacks as Hiccup tries to keep up with the turns.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Sorry."
"Crash number 5!" Ruffnut merrily called out. Tuffnut had taken on the duty of writing down all of Hiccup's crashes for now.
Hiccup facepalmed. "They're really counting them." He had expected it to be a jest. At least it would keep the twins occupied and prevent them from causing any more mischief.
They hurtle into another rock pillar. Toothless grumbles.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "My fault."
Toothless swats him with his 'ear' plate.
"Number 6!" Dagur called out. The wins sent him a thumbs up which he returned as Hiccup watched the whole thing happen with a blank look.
Ignoring that he turned to his scaly friend. "Was that necessary?" He didn't see why he got slapped in the face for that. Toothless was fine. Mostly.
"Yes. Yes, it was." Toothless and Astrid replied in unison. They looked at each other and grinned. Hiccup shook his head in dismay. 'This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them.'
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." (referring to the cheat SHEET) "Position four, no three."
They pierce the clouds. For the first time, Hiccup can see the whole of the island below them. It shrinks with every passing second. He SWALLOWS hard and tightens his grip on the handles.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Yeah! Go baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my..."
Some vikings paled. Actually, most of them did. That was way too high up. A crash from that height would no doubt be fatal. Falling into the water wouldn't do him any good either.
The dragons too looked troubled. The hatchling should not be flying at those altitudes so early. Any slight mistake could cause him to fall out of the saddle and start descending towards the ocean at a rapid rate. Toothless would not be able to save him due to the missing tailfin.
He spots the leather guide tearing free in the turbulence.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (PANICKED) "... CHEAT SHEET! STOP!"
Hiccup grabs frantically for the airborne sheet...
HICCUP (CONT'D) "No!"
... and NABS IT before it's carried out of reach. Toothless, however, obeys the command and suddenly STOPS beating his wings.
As they slow to a stop, Hiccup goes weightless. The rings of his vest float off of the harness hooks. Hiccup suddenly finds himself detached, free-falling.
"HICCUP!" Stoick's shout of horror is drowned out by all the other screams coming from his tribe and even some dragons. It did not matter that this had already happened and his son had come out unscathed. The fear for his son's life made him clench his armrests so tight his hands turned white. Absentmindedly he noticed the armrests had repaired themselves after he broke them the first time.
Gobber could do nothing more than watch the screen in fright. His apprentice was plummeting towards the ground from thousands of meters up in the air. All of this while Gobber had been telling Stoick about how Hiccup had become the best recruit in dragon training.
Astrid grabbed hold of Hiccup's hand. That idiot! What had he been thinking? Going this high up? She tried to take a deep breath and calm down. This was in the past. Hiccup was fine. But it didn't work. Logical thinking and emotions typically don't go together.
Snotlout felt his heart drop. 'That's really bad. But he's fine! He's sitting right over there getting his hand crushed by Astrid. Actually, that looks like it's gonna bruise, good luck cousin.' Snotlout knew just how strong Astrid was. His face and especially his nose could attest to that.
Fishlegs was having a hard time getting his breathing under control. How could he? He was literally watching his friend about to crash into the ground and die. If he fell into the sea there wouldn't even be a body to recover and no one would know what happened to him. Not that there would be much to recover if he hit the ground.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were really worried. They both enjoyed near-death situations, but this was different. Hiccup really could have died there and no one would even know about it. Everyone would probably assume he left Berk on his own and eventually forget about him. 'What would happen if one of us went missing?' Ruffnut thought to herself. 'Would they just forget about us and move on?'
Heather gasped. Surely It wouldn't end like this. There was no way Hiccup and Toothless would die like this after everything they went through. When she glanced at the boy she saw that he was calm. She expected him to be freaking out, but he wasn't fazed at all.
The eager look on Dagur's face vanished. Hiccup was currently falling to his death. Dagur gazed at his brother and was astonished to see he wasn't panicking in the slightest. He didn't even look worried. 'I guess that means this is still in the past.'
Toothless remembered this moment vividly. This flight had made him realize he was no longer just looking out for himself, but his rider too. Worrying about others was not something he was used to. He was always alone, the last of his kind as far as he knew. Having a friend was a new, but pleasant experience.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Oh gods! Oh no!"
Without Hiccup, the tail loses control. Hiccup and Toothless spiral downward. Toothless FIGHTS to get back under Hiccup.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (trying to calm Toothless) "Alright, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself. No, no...come back down towards me. Come back down-"
Hiccup extends his arms and legs, giving himself as much surface area as he can. He angles back towards Toothless as the tumbling dragon WHACKS Hiccup with his wing.
Hiccup winced. Astrid's grip on his hand was getting pretty painful now. "I'm fine. Really, it's not as bad as it looks…" He stopped talking once he caught sight of the glares his friends were sending him. He had to admit, it felt great knowing so many people, and dragons cared about his wellbeing.
After a few more misses, Hiccup finally GRABS HOLD of the harness and manages to lock in.
A/N
(I was going to write a whole rant about this scene, but I'll just leave a short message. Hiccup in that scene managing to pull himself into the saddle is physically impossible, especially for someone like Hiccup. But I'm going to say it's fantasy and leave it at that.)
'Impossible.' Viggo and many others thought as they watched Hiccup pull himself into the saddle. Considering the speed at which he was falling the air resistance should make it physically impossible. And Hiccup thought the Gods hated him. Ha. It was clearly the opposite given what they had just been shown.
Just in time to pull Toothless out of his dive... barely shy of the tree tops.
A few vikings and dragons started cheering only to be shushed by the rest of the audience. Hiccup and Toothless were not out of the woods yet.
They careen past the wooded cliff and directly into a treacherous slalom course of jutting sea stacks. Hiccup pulls the cheat sheet from his teeth and attempts to check positions. It flaps violently in the turbulence, making it impossible.
The Berkians held their breath. Some even sent a quick prayer up to Odin. Without the cheat sheet Hiccup wouldn't be able to control the tailfin. Had the boy's luck finally caught up with him?
With no time to think, Hiccup throws it away and steers Toothless' tail on instinct... with perfect intuition. Together, they manage a tight, hair-rasing series of split- second turns, making it to the open water, unscathed.
No one could believe it. They made it. They actually fucking made it out of that alive. Stoick slumped in his chair with relief. 'Thank Thor.' That boy would be the death of him.
Hiccup takes a breath and glances back at the death-defying obstacle course, now safely behind them. He beams, relieved. He sits back and throws his arms up in victory.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "YEEAHHH!"
The viewers cheered along with him. It was so loud Hiccup was sure he would go deaf by the end of it. He sighed in relief when Astrid let go of the death grip she had on his hand, only to yelp when she punched his shoulder. "Don't do that again." She said and turned back to the screen.
Hiccup rubbed his sore shoulder in confusion as his friends congratulated him on surviving that fall. "Geez, what's up with her bud?" Toothless rolled his eyes. His brother may be a genius, but he could be so clueless it was painful.
Toothless concurs with a happy SQUEAL and a fireball. Hiccup's glee turn to dread as they fly directly into it.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Ah, come on."
Chuckles rippled through the theater. The tension that had hung in the air lifted now that Hiccup and Toothless were fine.
Astrid smiled. 'Good job Toothless.' Hiccup deserved that one for making her worry so much.
EXT. BLACK SAND BEACH – SUNSET ON HICCUP'S FACE Hiccup's face is slightly burned.
The chuckles turned into full-blown laughter once they saw Hiccup's face.
Hiccup and Toothless lounge on a sprawling, deserted beach, snacking of freshly caught fish. As Hiccup cooks his over a fire, Toothless suddenly regurgitates a fish head. Hiccup smirks with forced politeness.
HICCUP "Uh..no thanks." (gesturing to his fish on A STICK) "I'm good."
Fishlegs gagged. "Please not again." Watching Hiccup eat a regurgitated fish once was more than enough. He, or anyone else for that matter, did not need a repeat of that.
"That was a perfectly good fish." Toothless grumbled. Who cares if it was slimy and disgusting by viking standards? Hiccup needed to eat more anyway. He was way too skinny.
"For you dragons maybe, but us humans will get sick from that." Hiccup reminded his scaly friend that humans could not eat raw fish. He felt a shudder go down his spine. Eating that slimy fish was not something he wanted to relive. He had only barely been able to keep it down.
Toothless yielded. "Fine, no more regurgitated fish." But he would still make sure Hiccup ate more. Given his thinness, it was clear he wasn't consuming the right amount of food he needed.
Several Terrible Terrors land like seagulls, hissing and nipping at each other as they approach Toothless' pile of fish. Toothless growls and cover his food from the Terrors.
All the dragons (except the Terrors) growled in agitation. Many of them had had their food stolen by Terrible Terrors. They really were a nuisance. Those little shits were the dragon equivalent of rats. Annoying, sneaky, and who knew what diseases they were carrying.
One grabs the regurgitated fish head and drags it away. Another attempts to steal it from him. They face off and last fire balls at each other to settle the fight. Hiccup and Toothless watch, amused. That is until...
Toothless spots one of his fish leaving the pile. A stealthy Terrible Terror is exposed as the thief. They tug on the fish, and it snaps back into Toothless' mouth. He swallows it back tauntingly.
"Toothless be nice." Hiccup scolded his scaly friend. The Terrors were just hungry and Toothless had more than enough. He could have shared a few of his fish.
Toothless shook his head. "No, the flying rats don't deserve nice. Their only purpose in life is to annoy us." The dragons who heard his words roared their approval.
Irate, the little dragon paws at the ground and blast Toothless. He opens his mouth, the gas hiss comes, and Toothless fires a tiny flame straight into its mouth, causing the gas to backfire into the little dragon. It coughs up smoke and staggers away, looking ill. Hiccup laughs.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?"
"Write that down, Gobber." Stoick said. Any information on the enemy could be used against them. All weaknesses could be exploited somehow. Hiccup was smart enough to find a way, Stoick was sure of that. Then again would he actually help? He did say he didn't want to kill dragons and now he knew the reason why.
Hiccup throws the hapless Terror his freshly cooked fish.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Here you go."
The appreciative little dragon gulps down the meal and approaches Hiccup cautiously. He curls up next to him. Hiccup is amazed.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (PENSIVE) "Everything we know about you guys is wrong."
"Alright everyone, break time! You have one hour before the movie continues." Their host said while looking pointedly at Stoick and… Viggo?
Stoick sighed. "It's time." It was time for him and Hiccup to have a serious discussion.
"Oh, boy." Gobber just hoped this wouldn't end terribly.
Viggo couldn't keep the grin off his face. It seemed he would get that game of maces and talons a lot sooner than he had expected.
A/N
As you can probably already tell I plan on giving Viggo and Hiccup a teacher/student type relationship in this fic. That's what it always felt like to me whenever I watched the show. Though they're not going to be allies, for obvious reasons.