A/N
Important to the story!
Just a quick note before you read this chapter. During the scene where Hiccup frees Toothless I decided to add something extra which helps explain to the audience why Hiccup freed him. It's also IN MY OPINION one of the reasons why he didn't kill Toothless.
INT. GREAT HALL – DAY A noisy din of PROTESTING VOICES leads to… STOICK, glowering in the firelight. Surrounded by his men.
STOICK "Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home."
The dragons shook their heads at the stupidity. "And where do you think we would go?" Meatlug asked.
Stoick glared at the dragons. "I don't care where you go as long as you finally disappear." The vikings shouted in agreement.
Viggo decided to intervene before the argument dissolved into petty bickering. "I think the answer the Gronckle was looking for is that they would go to the closest island."
"I still don't see how that's important." Stoick stubbornly continued.
"Well, to closest island to the nest is Berk…" Fishlegs trailed off, his eyes going wide. The other vikings had the same expression on their faces.
"How did you never think about that?!" Dagur asked the berkians. Even he and his father took this into consideration, not that it mattered since Berk was way closer to the nest than Berserker island was.
"If you destroyed our nest and your island was the closest of course we would make it our new home. That's just common sense!" Fanghook said, the other dragons agreeing with her.
He sinks his blade into a... LARGE NAUTICAL MAP, spread out on the table... the blade pierces the middle of an uncharted corner, swirling with painted sea monsters and dragons.
STOICK (CONT'D) (decidedly) "One more search. Before the ice sets in."
VIKING "Those ships never come back."
STOICK (matter-of-fact) "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?"
Stoick throws up his fist. No one follows. The crowds shifts in restless silence. Head scratches. Eyes averted.
"I wonder how he'll motivate them to go with him?" A random Zippleback asked.
The teens were confused as all hell. The adults always seemed so eager and ready to go on nest searches. Why were they so against it now?
The vikings were shifting around in their seats uncomfortable with what was about to be shown. Stoick cringed, this would end badly. Gobber just put his head in his hands, he couldn't look Hiccup in the face. Hiccup may have the toughest skin in the whole Archipelago but this? This would break the poor lad.
The dragons, teens and non-berkians were giving them suspicious looks. Why did they look so ashamed and guilty?
(Before you read the next scene. I hate how every watching HTTYD fanfiction plays this scene off as a joke. Sure it's a joke for the people watching the movie but if the characters from the movie saw this? It would definitely not be treated as a joke.)
VIKING (feeble) "Today's not good for me."
VIKING (CONT'D) (equally feeble) "I've gotta do my axe returns."
STOICK "Alright. Those who stay will look after Hiccup."
Hiccup stared at the screen shocked and hurt. He and his dad did not have a good relationship, everyone knew that. But to use him like that? He didn't seem to be joking, he was completely serious when he said that.
Everyone else except the berkians couldn't believe it either, especially the other teens. They didn't even hate Hiccup, he was just an easy scapegoat to turn away the attention from whenever they messed something up. The teens looked at each other with disbelief. Surely this was just a joke… right?
Hands jut into the air, volunteers galore. Enthusiastic murmurs of prep and packing fill the room.
PHLEGMA THE FIERCE "To the ships!"
SPITELOUT "I'm with you Stoick!"
STOICK (dry) "That's more like it."
The hall was completely silent. No one knew what to say. What really was there to say?
Dagur was appalled at how his brother was being treated. He knew Hiccup probably wasn't the most liked person on Berk, but this? He couldn't even begin to comprehend how terrible this was.
"Ha." Hiccup gave out a short, shocked chuckle looking at the screen wide-eyed. "I mean, I know they despise me but I never thought they'd rather go on a suicide mission than stay with me."
"Hiccup that's not-" Stoick did not get to finish his sentence before his son interrupted him.
"How many?" Hiccup asked looking down at the ground, shaking.
"What?" Stoick asked, confused.
"How many times did you do THIS?!" He shouted pointing at the screen. "How many times have you used ME as an excuse to drag people to their deaths?! How many people have died on these hunts because of ME?!" He was shaking and glaring at the berkians (mostly Stoick) by the end of his short rant. Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks as he waited for an answer.
No one was saying anything and Hiccup was starting to get impatient. "WELL!?" No one had ever seen Hiccup this angry before except for Gobber who just kept his head in his hands. He wouldn't look, he couldn't. The lad he practically raised just found out what was being said about him behind the scenes.
Stoick finally found his voice and decided to just get it over with and tell the truth. "Every- every time. F-for the past t-two years." He looked at his son in worry.
Hiccup just nodded numbly, his face expressionless except for the tears running down his cheeks. He curled up in his seat and buried his head in his knees. The silence in the hall was broken by his muffled sobs. No one really knew what to do, no one's ever seen Hiccup break down before. Or maybe he just hid it so well.
"Should we do something?" Ruffnut whispered to the other teens feeling very awkward.
"I don't know, what are we supposed to even do?" Fishlegs asked. He couldn't imagine how Hiccup felt right now.
"Does he even want us to help?" They looked at Snotlout questioningly. "We do treat him badly so would he even trust us?" Snotlout may not admit it but he did care about Hiccup. And he knew that the other teens did too. They treated him badly but what choice did they have? They saw that the adults didn't like Hiccup so they did not want to take the risk to hang out with him and get the same treatment.
The twins knew they weren't liked among the villagers that much and their friend group was lucky not to end up like Hiccup did. Astrid and Snotlout had it the easiest since they looked and acted like real vikings but even Snotlout had problems with his father and would sometimes vent his frustrations. Fishlegs was the most similar to Hiccup but he at least looked like a viking. And the twins themselves? Their only life saver was the fact they fought like real vikings, which meant for very stupid reasons.
They all had their problems, Hiccup just got unlucky and had it worse than them. At least they had each other to talk to about their problems, vent their frustrations and support each other. Hiccup didn't have that luxury, sure he had Gobber but given what they've seen and learned Hiccup definitely didn't talk to anyone about his problems.
Astrid cursed under her breath. "Fuck it." And started walking over to Hiccup and the group around him. She was going to wait, but he needed someone right now. Toothless couldn't go and comfort his rider due to the barrier separating the dragons and vikings so she was his next best bet.
"Wait, what are you-" Snotlout started. Tuffnut put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. He and his sister may not be the smartest but even they could tell what she was trying to do. And honestly? Hiccup was going to need all the support he could get after everything he just found out.
Kamil made another chair appear on Hiccup's other side which Astrid took. She laid her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He just looked at her with a face that said 'Are you serious?' "Do I look like I'm okay to you?"
"Good to know he hasn't lost his humor." She thought with a roll of her eyes. "Okay, bad question. Do you need anything?"
"I-I don't know. L-let's just keep watching." His attention was solely on the screen. He really didn't want to bother Astrid or anyone else with his problems.
Astrid sighed but didn't say anything else. Hiccup was probably used to hiding his issues from others due to how long he's been doing it. Getting him out of his shell will be hard but Astrid Hofferson never backed down from a challenge.
The Vikings rush for the door, leaving Gobber and Stoick alone. Gobber gulps back the contents of his tankard attachment and scrapes back the bench. GOBBER "I'll pack my undies."
STOICK "No, I need you to stay and train some new recruits."
GOBBER "Oh, perfect. And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor-sharp blades, lots of time to himself...what could possibly go wrong?"
"Jeez Gobber, I may be depressed but it's not that bad." He thought about it before, everyone in their life does at some point but he never actually tried anything. Why would he try to kill himself? To prove them right about how he's weak? No thank you. He'd rather outlive them just to spite them.
Astrid decided to check his wrists just in case. She sighed in relief when she found nothing. Hiccup just rolled his eyes in exasperation. "See? I told you it isn't that bad." Bad thing to say as it resulted in a hard punch to the shoulder. Give him a break, he was new to social interaction with people who talked back rather than overgrown lizards.
Stoick sinks onto the bench beside Gobber, his brow burdened.
STOICK "What am I going to do with him Gobber?"
GOBBER "Put him in training with the others."
STOICK "No, I'm serious."
GOBBER "So am I."
Stoick turns to him, glaring.
STOICK "He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage."
Hiccup was angry, sad but not surprised. Okay, he was a little surprised but mostly angry. Fucking figures, his dad had absolutely no faith in him. He even had the nerve to imply that the other villagers would kill him. Honestly, at this point, Gobber was more of a father than Stoick. Gobber at least defended him, when had his father ever done that after his mother was taken? Never.
Now every single person and dragon in the room glared at Stoick. The berkians did not like Hiccup but they would never kill him, they pushed him around a bit sure but they'd never go that far.
"Are you implying that one of those hatchlings or the fat blacksmith would kill him before we even got to him?" Hookfang asked the chief. He'd seen vikings kill each other in the past but they actually had legitimate reasons. Fighting invading tribes being the main one. This would just be considered murder.
"No of course not! That's not what I said-"
"But you implied it." Stoick let his head drop into his hands. There was no point in denying it. He did imply his people would kill Hiccup. He did.
Now the teens were really pissed. Them killing Hiccup? This time Stoick crossed the fucking line.
"If this shows us one more reason to go over there and apologize to Hiccup for everything we've ever done to him and start helping him rather than what we're doing now, we're fucking going." Snotlout whispered to the other teens who nodded in agreement. It was time to make amends and fix past mistakes.
(The teens are much nicer to Hiccup than in most fanfictions because in my opinion it's always exaggerated how much they dislike him.)
GOBBER "Oh, you don't know that."
STOICK "I do know that, actually."
GOBBER "No, you don't."
STOICK "No, actually I do."
GOBBER "No you don't!"
"It's sad that he has more faith in Hiccup than his own father." That thought went through pretty much everyone's heads.
STOICK "Listen! You know what he's like. From the time he could crawl he's been...different. He doesn't listen. (MORE) Has the attention span of a sparrow. I take him fishing and he goes hunting for... for trolls."
GOBBER (defensive) "Trolls exist! They steal your socks. (darkly) But only the left ones. What's with that?"
The teens and some of the younger children were looking everywhere but in the blacksmith's direction. Who knew stealing his socks would make him believe trolls exist.
"Maybe because you only have your left leg? You know, since your right one's kinda missing." Hiccup knew it was the kids stealing Gobber's socks, hell sometimes he stole them too just to mess with Gobber.
Gobber's mouth was open in shock. "So that's why!" The villagers facepalmed.
STOICK "When I was a boy…"
Hiccup groaned. "I swear to the gods. He tells this story every time."
GOBBER (grumbling) "Oh here we go."
STOICK "My father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?"
"You broke your nose?" One of the dragons guessed.
"You cracked your skull?" Throk guessed.
"He got a headache." Hiccup deadpanned.
GOBBER "You got a headache."
"I got a headache." Stoick deadpanned. The vikings were holding in their laughter. As different as Hiccup and Stoick were they did have a lot of similarities.
STOICK "That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas!"
"Not really. Vikings can't do any of those. Dragons on the other hand. Catastrophic Quaken's can destroy mountains, Timberjacks can level forests and Submarippers can control the seas." All the vikings were staring at Viggo curiously. Just how many dragons did this guy know about? He was a dragon hunter that much they knew but he knew about dragons they'd never even heard of.
"Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become. (beat) Hiccup is not that boy."
Hiccup glanced at the surprised faces in the room. In all honesty, he wasn't surprised, he knew this already. That did not stop the feeling of hurt in his chest.
GOBBER "You can't stop him, Stoick. You can only prepare him. (beat) Look, I know it seems hopeless. But the truth is you won't always be around to protect him. He's going to get out there again. He's probably out there now."
ON STOICK, as Gobber's words hit their mark.
EXT. WOODS - DAY ON AN OPEN NOTEBOOK A drawn map of the island, covered in X's. Hiccup looks up from it and peeks over a gorge, expectantly. Sees nothing. He adds another 'X' to the page, then scratches his pencil over the whole map in frustration. He snaps the book closed and pockets it.
"Damn, Hiccup. What did the book ever do to you?" Dagur joked trying to lighten the mood. It didn't really work.
HICCUP "Uggh, the gods hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me. I manage to lose an entire dragon."
Hiccup WHACKS a low-hanging branch. It SNAPS back at him, hitting him in the face.
Normally the berkians would have laughed but after everything that went on in the past ten minutes any feeling of amusement was gone though some did almost let out a few chuckles.
He looks up to see a snapped tree trunk. His eyes follow it to a long trench of up-turned earth.
Any feelings they had prior to this were now replaced with fear and anxiety. Was the Night Fury still tied up? Did it escape? Hiccup was fine but he never returned with the kill so it must have escaped. That made them feel relieved. They pushed him to hunt down a Night Fury on his own with no prior training and nothing else but a dagger, had he died it would have been partially their fault.
He follows it to a downed, black dragon, its body and tail tangled in a bola. It appears dead. Hiccup approaches, beaming.
The vikings breath hitched. Holy shit, it was actually still there. A couple of them couldn't take it and fainted. The dragons weren't doing much better. If any of them were in Hiccup's position they would run the hell away. No sane person or dragon messes with a Night Fury. Maybe Hiccup really did have a death wish.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (in shock) "Oh wow. I did it. I did it. This fixes everything. (elated) Yes!"
"How are you not scared out of your fucking mind right now!? It's a gods damn Night Fury!" Dagur's shout was accompanied by a few other ones asking the same thing. His brother was the craziest viking in the whole Archipelago, probably even crazier than Dagur himself.
"I thought he was dead." Hiccup said through gritted teeth. They would see him free Toothless. He was dead. Oh, he was so fucking dead.
Astrid saw him shaking and took his hand into hers to calm him down. It calmed him down a little but his shaking was progressively getting worse.
Stoick and Gobber were clutching at their chests, ready to have a heart attack.
He strikes a victory pose, planting his foot on the fallen Night Fury.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "I have brought down this mighty beast!"
It suddenly shifts.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "Whoa!"
Hiccup springs back, terrified. He turns his blade on it. Rattled, Hiccup creeps along the length of the weak, wounded dragon, dagger poised to strike.
Quite a lot of people on the viking side keeled over and fell to the floor unconscious. Some of the dragons did too.
Snotlout acquired a newfound respect for his cousin. Grown vikings and even dragons were so scared they fainted just from watching a Night Fury who couldn't even hurt them yet Hiccup didn't even run away. He faced down that dragon like a true viking.
As he reaches the head, Hiccup finds the Night Fury staring coldly at him. Hiccup tries to look away, but he's drawn back to its unnerving, unflinching stare.
This wasn't right. The vikings thought to themselves. The Night Fury looked way too human, there was too much emotion in those eyes. They always thought dragons were soulless creatures that crawled out from the depths of Helheim but they weren't so sure about that anymore.
With the dragon safety tangled in the ropes, Hiccup jabs with his dagger, puffing himself up with false bravado.
HICCUP (CONT'D) "I'm going to kill you, Dragon. I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a Viking. (beat) I am a VIKING!"
Stoick wanted to be proud of his son about to get his first kill, and a Night Fury at that! But something just felt wrong about it. This wasn't Hiccup, at least not the one he knew. He hoped his son wouldn't break himself just to prove something to him. Maybe Hiccup would leave and let it die of starvation? After all he did not bring back any proof of kill.
Hiccup raises the dagger, determined to prove his Vikingness. The dragon's labored breathing breaks Hiccup's clenched concentration. He opens an eye, uncertainty leaking through.
"He won't do it." Viggo mused. But why? That was the question. "Why indeed?" He glanced at the Hiccup in the audience. He was shaking, white as a sheet, constantly glancing at the berkians and looked about ready to flee.
The Defenders of the Wing and the Wing Maiden in the audience were now fully convinced Hiccup was on their side. He would not kill dragons that was for sure.
The dragon holds the stare. Something profound is exchanged. Finally, the Night Fury closes its eyes and lowers its head, resigned to its fate.
Dagur was confused. Why didn't he just kill him? He glanced at Hiccup. "What is going on in your head little brother?" He saw the state Hiccup was in and came to a conclusion. His eyes widened. "Did he?"
Gobber knew his apprentice better than anyone. He didn't kill that dragon. His best guess as to why would be that Hiccup was normally in the dragon's position while the other teens were the ones above him. He didn't want to stoop to their level.
The teens themselves came to the same conclusion as the blacksmith. So they were part of the reason Hiccup didn't kill the Night Fury?
For those who don't read A/N's
(I decided to add something extra which helps explain to the audience why Hiccup freed him. It's also IN MY OPINION one of the reasons why he didn't kill Toothless.)
Just before he could do it Hiccup heard the voices of the other villagers in his head. "I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" "You need to stop all this." "Every time you step outside disaster follows!" "It's what's inside that he can't stand." "Quite the performance." "Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you!" "You are many things Hiccup but a dragon killer is not one of them." "Stop trying so hard to be something you're not."
Hiccup tries to go through with it, holding the dagger aloft... fighting himself... until finally lowering it with a frustrated sigh.
HICCUP (muttered, sad, resigned) "This won't change anything. They'll still hate me."
The teens were right. They along with Stoick, Gobber and the rest of the village contributed to this. They all felt guilty when they heard him mutter that last line. None of them hated him, they just... mildly disliked him. The teens and Stoick though felt the most guilty.
Gobber was downcast. He tried to help Hiccup as much as he could, he really did. It just wasn't enough. He was only one man and he could only do so much.
The teens definitely did not hate him. They just treated him like shit so that the villagers wouldn't treat them the same way they treated Hiccup. But that was about to change. As soon as they had the chance they'll go and try to make things right with him.
Stoick… well, there was only one thing he could think about. "I'm so sorry Valka. I failed him."
He looks over the dragon's chaffed rope wounds.
HICCUP (CONT'D) (muttered, ashamed) "I did this."
Viggo's eyes widened. Hiccup was going to set that dragon free. He couldn't stand to see someone else suffer the same way he has. That only brought up more questions. "How did he survive? Why did the Night Fury not kill him?"
He turns to leave. Pauses. And glances back at the dragon, chest heaving. Hiccup GRUMBLES. He checks over his shoulder to ensure that no one is watching... then hurries back to cut the ropes.
Everyone's eyes became the size of saucers. They all understood why he didn't kill the dragon but to set it free!? This was practically suicide! Hiccup did say he was depressed. Was this some sort of suicide attempt?! Did they push him to the point where he would actually consider ending his life by being eaten alive or burning to death by a dragon?
The Night Fury's eyes shoot open. With the dragon watching his every move, Hiccup hurriedly saws through the bola ropes. As the last rope falls free, the Night Fury suddenly POUNCES!
A good portion of the vikings looked away or covered their eyes. They didn't want to watch their heir get burned to a crisp or eaten alive. The ones who still had their attention on the screen were gripping the armrests of their chairs and holding their breaths.
In a blur, the dragon is upon him, pinning Hiccup down, grazing his neck. Looking like it's about to kill him. Hiccup is paralyzed. The dragon's breath ruffles his hair. Hiccup opens his eyes to find the Night Fury's wolf-like stare boring into him. The exchange is intense, profound.
Some of the viewers couldn't take it anymore and threw up into buckets that conveniently came out of nowhere. The armrests of some of the vikings, most notably Stoick, Gobber and Spitelout, couldn't take the pressure and snapped.
Hiccup's arm was really starting to hurt due to how hard Astrid was gripping it. The shieldmaiden was aware that Hiccup and Toothless were friends but just seeing this was making her stomach churn.
The only ones in the room who were completely calm were Mala, Throk, Atali and Toothless.
The dragon draws a deep breath, as though it's about to torch him, then lets out an ear-piercing scream instead. It turns and takes flight, flapping violently through the canopy of trees. It bashes against a nearby mountain side, recovers, and drops out of view some distance away. Winded, Hiccup struggles to his feet, staggers a few steps, collapses to his knees, and faints.
Viggo's entire world was being turned upside down and his view of dragons would never stay the same after this. He didn't know what to think anymore. And he wasn't the only one.
Kamil decided it was time for a break. They would definitely need it to sort things out. "Alright everyone if you look to your left you'll see a door that will lead you to your rooms. Now go get some food and get some rest. We'll pick this back up again tomorrow. Dragons your door is to the right."
After his announcement, they all filtered through the door while the dragons went through another door that would lead them to rooms that could accommodate creatures of their size. It would be best to keep the humans and dragons separated for a little while longer. Luckily no one caught the Night Fury which stealthily made its way over to Hiccup's room.