Their next day started late. Both of them sleeping in. Toothless was the first to wake. He wanted to watch Hiccup sleep the day away but it was their last on on the island and there were somethings that they had to do.
"Hiccup." Toothless whispered. He nudged the boy. "Hey. Wake up. You have to talk to everyone today. And we slept in so hurry up." Hiccup groaned. He flipped on his back, and placed his hand over his eyes.
"What do you mean I have to talk to everyone? And why wasn't I warned about it?" He removed his hand to scowl at Toothless.
"What?" Toothless asked innocently.
"Don't play that with me, Toothless. You should have told me."
"You're right I should have but I didn't because, I think that you make better speeches when you talk from the heart. And your heart has spoken volumes about who you are, and what you believe in. I didn't tell you because I know that you'll just fine and speak your mind. Besides, this was your first time here and I wanted you to enjoy it. Not have to worry that you have to talk to all these dragons. Many of them not ours. And if you still worried, know that other alphas will be there too, making a similar speeches to you." Toothless reassured him.
"But what do I say? What are they looking for?"
"Well, it's more like bragging. You're all basically going to show the others that you're the most powerful of all the alphas. You'll want to try to put some fear into them. Some of our current allies are here and they'll back you up if needed. But know enemies of ours will also be making speeches. They will be trying to do the same thing as you. I'm going to give you some advice. Leverage that you're human, scare them with what you are. Scare them with having met with a god more than once now. And having survived another. Just put on your best scoul and act menacing, and it should be just fine."
Hiccup stood up and started looking for his clothes. "Be scary he says." He mumbled to himself. "Do I look scary to you?" He turned to face Toothless, and held his arms out. He turned back around still searching for the discarded clothes. "You think this voice instills fear into people? Damnit Toothless." He picked up his shirt. "I wish I had at least some time to think about this. At least so I could figure out how I'm going to start." He gnashed his teeth together.
Toothless found his pants and brought them to him. "You won't go first and you do have a little time. True, not a whole ton, but you have a few hours until you speak. Hiccup look at me." The half dragon turned with his arms crossed. "I know that scaring people isn't your thing. I know you want everyone to come together and be friends, and potentially unite against a common enemy. But I also know that you're too smart to actually thing that could happen. There are some who do see you as an abomination and don't want you to exist, and want you dead because of it. Use that. Belittle them, make them angry, force them to focus on the wrong thing. The most important thing is to try to convert others. The speeches today are more to influence where couples will raise their young. We want our numbers to grow and converting even one dragon to leave on of our enemies flocks is a huge win.
And one more thing. This island is neutral ground. The fastest way to lose the trust of our dragons is to incite a fight. Keep your cool and endure any insult. Hiccup, do. Not. Declare. War. Not while we are on this island. You and I would have to immediately have to step down, and that would leave our people defenceless. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Toothless I understand you. I was the son of a chief you know. I know what neutral ground is. I've been to a few of these. I've just never had to speak at one before. That just isn't how it worked for us. We don't have to worry about things like where our children will live after they're born. To be fair though, it's much harder for us to move from place to place. I also don't think we really did the intimidate your enemies with words thing. I do know that we would hold a tournament, and that's kinda how we forced fear into the other villages. But I'm pretty sure that it's way more dangerous with dragons." Toothless chuckled at him.
"That would be interesting, but you're right. And the way we do it has been the way we've done it for hundreds of years. So that's it's not going to change now." The two sat for a second before Toothless shook himself off. "Alright I'm going to see if I can't find something to easy quick. Is fish okay for you?" Hiccup nodded and Toothless was off. After the dragon was out of sight Hiccup found a spot to sit. He deflated.
"Well Hiccup." He spoke to himself. "It seems like no matter how far away from Berk you get, people want you to act like your father. You should have seen this coming. But are you willing to compromise who you are? Is it so bad to be like your dad? People like him, respected him. As long as you don't become exactly like him it wouldn't be so bad. As long as I don't harbor hate for things I don't know, it would be fine. Right? Or would I lose myself? You've come up with a distinct style and personally, why should you change it? Are you not good enough? Is it about that? Is it not about being the best leader you can be? Would Toothless notice? Even if he did would he comment on it? Would he notice a change or just assume that I'm trying to become better. Better. There's that word again. You know Toothless doesn't care. You know he'll tell you if you're slipping. And you know if you do, he'll stop you from sliding.
You know he's really too good for you."