How to Train Your Dragon
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Runaway Hero
Hiccup decides to run away with Toothless rather than fight the Nightmare. But rather than leave the other dragons to their fates at the Tribe's hands, he sneaks into the arena and releases them. However, Astrid follows Hiccup to the Cove as he's leaving. Thankfully, Toothless noticed her presence and grappled Hiccup, fleeing as quickly as he could. Despite his best effort, Astrid still glimpsed Hiccup getting carried off by a black dragon of some kind.
The Vikings send search parties but don't find Hiccup, though they do find Eret the Dragon Trapper. Eret was able to impress the Berkians who decide to employ him to help them deal with their dragon infestation problem. Eret quite happily agrees to the arrangement since it allows him to double his profits by capturing Berk's dragons and then selling them to Drago Bludfist. Despite her clear lack of interest, Eret pursues Astrid, trying to win her affections, much to Ruffnut's disgruntlement.
Meanwhile, Toothless and Hiccup get into a battle with the Red Death and kill it with help from the dragons who he'd freed from the arena. He was badly injured and the dragons rushed him to the nearest inhabited island for him to get medical attention. After several weeks of healing and paying off his debt, Hiccup finally departs with Toothless for new lands.
Three years later…
Hiccup decides to return to Berk. He finds it more heavily fortified than ever before, defenses inspired or recommended by Eret. Since he left Toothless and his other dragon friends back at the cove, he walked back to Berk where he was greeted with awe and disbelief. A great feast was thrown in his honor, despite his objections, as everyone tried to hear the tales of his grand adventures.
Meanwhile, Eret and Astrid get ambushed by a large swarm of dragons, led by a rider and an ice-breathing dragon, losing all the dragons they'd caught. They were forced to return to Berk to capture more of them. When they arrived, Astrid is flabbergasted to learn Hiccup had returned, alive. Eret was unhappy because he knew he could lose the young woman he'd been pursuing for so long to this 'new challenger'.
During a raid that very night, Hiccup used his accumulated knowledge to ward off the dragons singlehandedly without harming them, to the awe and uncertainty of the Tribe. Eret was pissed at not making a single catch and confronted Hiccup, accusing him of being a dragon-sympathizer. Hiccup didn't try to refute the accusation, merely pointing out he had saved Berk and the Tribe from harm.
Despite his father's pleas, Hiccup spent his night in the Cove as a means of giving himself some privacy from the people. However, Astrid and several others follow him and are horrified to realize that he had befriended several dragons. Hiccup confronted them when they rushed in and demanded answers. Instead of explain, Hiccup took them all on a flight around the island, Astrid became especially enchanted. Later, they took the dragons into Berk and Hiccup showed the Tribe the source of his secrets.
Eret was even more pissed and accused him of stealing his captured dragons. Though Hiccup denied it, Eret attacked. Hiccup defended himself with his new flame-sword until Astrid jumped to his rescue (along with a majority of the Tribe). Eret was forced to leave but he promised that Drago would not be happy with them, alarming Stoick. As Stoick prepares the village for war, Hiccup trains any volunteers on how to bond with and train dragons.
Hearing of Berk's rebellion (his largest supplier of dragons), Drago brings his whole navy/army to crush it, much to Eret's surprise. Eret had grown attached to the island due to his time on it, so this extreme action rather alarmed him. When Drago arrives, his Bewilderbeast Alpha takes control of all dragons but Hiccup is able to bring Toothless back. As they battle, the Berk Vikings fend off the army until Toothless defeats the Alpha. With their victory and Toothless's coronation as the new Alpha, Hiccup is welcomed back into the Tribe as the new 'Dragon Master'.