"Uh yeah. That's what I said too." Stoick pulled at his beard. "Say you been reading while I was away Gobber? Never expected something like that out of you."
"Well someone was going to have to take over Berk when you never returned. Figured if the boy got so smart from readin' em' that I might get smarter too."
"So you were planning on taking Berk over then?" Stoick asked.
"Well numbnuts you put in charge ain't doing too hot, and most everyone was coming to me anyway. Can barely get any of my own work done before another person's up my rear about their house, or fence, or who cut who's finger off, or a number of other random things. And then they have the balls to ask me why I haven't gotten around to sharpening their axes."
"Spitelout is really doing that poorly?" Stoick sighed. "All that stepping up and hard work after his son's death and the new one's birth for nothing?" Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. "That man must just be doomed at this point."
"He's just one of those people who's good at what they're good at. Can't blame him for that."
"No I suppose you can't. Damn. Came to me and asked to lead while I was away too. Well at least one of you was holding down the fort." Stoick looked at Gobber and came to the realization that Gobber was sitting next to him. "And now you're here. So I should assume Berk is going to be burnt to the ground by the time we get back?"
"If you need to go back home, Toothless and I can fight our own fight. We've been doing it the whole time." Hiccup interjected.
"No, no." Stoick stopped that line of thinking. "If we're to be your allies then we need to show you our support. You'll want people with our skills to help out. You don't become the village with the highest kill count of dragons without the knowledge on how to do so effectively. Plus we have to make sure you live. None of this will work if you die, son."
"Well thank you. Only if I had an army of dragons. With a surprising amount of loyalty."
"And yet you still run to the front line in every fight." Toothless grumbled.
"And I always will." Hiccup gave Toothless a pat on the head.
"So then Hiccup, what's living with dragons like anyway? Can't be all easy." Gobber asked.
"It's definitely not easy. My position as alpha does afford me certain things that I'd normally not have. But I do also have a target on my back to those who think they can take my position. I have had to fight and hurt people to keep my position. Toothless too. Anyone can be the alpha and rarely is it passed on willingly. But I'm lucky that my way of leading and focus on making everyone's lives easier and more organized is working out. I work with a whole lot of my people to make it work. From sleeping arrangement to food supply, to entertainment, and making sure everyone knows we're one big family is what I work on all day. Then when I do get some time to myself I go and create a forge and make stuff for them.
But I enjoy every second of it, and wouldn't want to be doing anything else with my life."
"You have to fight for your position? That means you took it from the last one then." Gobber pointed out.
"Yes, we did. A female titan. As big as a mountain, smart, strong, and faster than you'd believe. She put up a good fight but made a fatal mistake and crashed into the ground at high speed. Not an issue for most dragons. They're tough, with strong bones, and thick skin. But at her size none of that mattered. She hit the ground and probably died instantly."
"What did you do with her?" Stoick asked. "I didn't see any huge dragon bones anywhere on your island."
"We carried her out to the sea. Dropped her in the deepest part we could find and let her sink to the bottom."
"Didn't keep any trophies?" Stoick asked.
"No." Hiccup said plainly. "She brought everyone around her pain. Put fear in their hearts, and controlled their minds. There was no escape from her. If Toothless and I weren't soulmates, I'd likely be dead. I wouldn't have been able to silence her voice in his head, and break him from her control.
All she brought these people was pain, and I didn't want any of them to have to see her bones and be reminded of what she did to them."
"She could control their minds?" Gobber asked. "How?" Hiccup shrugged.
"I don't know. She could make this sound and somehow they all could hear it no matter how far away. And somehow it also was able to give them orders. It's scary to think that a dragon could just do that. I'd have no way of fighting it if another dragon who could do that came along. I don't know if they'd have to accept that dragon as their alpha or something but I'd rather not find out."
"You're not going to look into it?" Stoick asked. "You of all people don't want to know how something like that works?"
"No." Hiccup shook his head. "While I do want to know and am curious about it, I wouldn't use it. Plus I doubt that anyone else will figure it out, and I don't want dragons in the future to suffer. If humans could make something that could make that sound, they'd abuse it. I don't want my name to be anywhere near that. I don't want to be involved at all if someone figured out how to do that.
I want to bring them together, not control them."
"I can see where you're coming from. If there was a way to do that to humans I'd use it in a heartbeat." Stoick laughed.
"Exactly. But there's a difference between using it, and abusing it. And my dragons were abused by it. Made to fight and kill, and even kill each other. They live with the scars and memories of what she made them do. Unfortunately for Toothless it goes further than that and he has to live with being the one to do the bad things she demanded. To kill and maim, and take away what little these people had. Ordered to kill mates, and hatchlings to get a message across. All against his will.
Some of our people to this day are still afraid that he'll take what they have."
"Wow, that's… I don't even know what to say." Stoick stumbled over his words.
"There's not a lot to say. As much as I'm sure many of those who still don't trust him would say he's no different now than he was then; I don't think he was the person they thought he was in the first place. It was him or them with that stuff. And ever since I met him I've never seen that side of him. The Toothless I know is calm, well spoken, and as gentle as they come. But just like anyone else like that he can turn on his anger. He can be mean, demanding, unwavering. But it's always for the other person's good. He won't be like that unless he knows it's the only way to get through to you. It's an amazing talent, and just another thing that I love about him." Hiccup gushed, and pressed himself into Toothless.