DJ Rodriguez: Thank you. And it's okay for delays. This story is waiting.
And yes, yes we have. This will be important later on, let me tell you that.
I figured Snotlout's punishment was fair when most cultures would have the 'eye for an eye' thinking.
As Daemon said, the gods give just as the gods take away. Luckily, Caraxes didn't think of killing the Thorston Twins now they will leave thinking that their actions will have consequences.
As for their ages, Caraxes is young. And for Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon, Vhagar is old among most dragons save for Balerion the Black Dread and the Cannibal.
If that scene made you think of Ice Age 3, read this chapter.
Eels are not that poisonous to dragons, they do make them sick save for Typhoomerangs that eat eels.
Yeah, I may have gotten inspired by Bad Boyz writing the Zippleback.
Yes, Sharpshot is the HTTYD equivalent of Puss in Boots!
TheLostDrag0n: (Chapter 5) Thank you.
(Chapter 7): Yes, yes he is.
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 8: First Flight and Storm Breaker
I can't loose!
Astrid let out an angry cry as she threw her battle ax at the middle of a tree. She did this again and again, as if it would make her anger go away. She pulled the ax out and rolled on the ground, rose to her feet quickly and reeled her hand back to throw the ax again.
Only to freeze in mid-throw as she saw Hiccup, Baela and Rhaena standing before her less than twenty feet from her. The Haddock heir was holding what looked to be a saddle in his hands.
Astrid and the three teens stared at one another with blank expressions before Hiccup handed the saddle to Baela. He whispered something to the Targaryen who nodded her head and left with her younger sister.
"Hey, Astrid." Hiccup greeted. "I was wondering if you're up for that spar we spoke about earlier."
Astrid lowered her ax in surprise but that was quickly replaced with eagerness to the idea of having an actual sparring match with Hiccup. "Yes, actually I am." she replied.
"Good," Hiccup responded with a small grin before pulling out his sword. Astrid held up her ax and entered a fighting stance.
The two teens circled each other slowly before Hiccup struck out with his sword. Astrid blocked it with her ax before striking back but that was easily parried and Hiccup stepped more to the right and Astrid mirrored him. Hiccup struck at her again, moving a bit more faster and forcing Astrid back.
The blonde Shield Maiden in training was taken aback by Hiccup's ferocity before she lifted her foot and planted it against the boulder, halting her movement and locking blades with Hiccup.
Hiccup rose an eyebrow at her before splitting his sword again and slashing out with his second sword. Astrid's eyes widen and she moved her head to the right and the sword stabbed into the boulder next to her head.
"You know, I've been meaning to thank you for what you said last week," Hiccup said all of the sudden, leaning close.
"What?" Astrid asked in confusion before she realized what the heir was referring to. "No, Hiccup. That was wrong of me to say that."
"No, it really made me think of things," Hiccup replied dismissively. "Now that I figured what side I'm on, I can double my efforts. Especially since it seemed that sharpening, fixing and making everyone's weapons didn't seemed to be enough."
Astrid winced at that, feeling a bit more ashamed. Then Hiccup grabbed onto her shirt, spun on his heel and then threw her over his shoulder onto the ground.
She grunted, feeling the wind get knocked out of her before Hiccup planted his boot on her chest with a sword pointed at her throat.
"Daemon always told me to not lower my guard for almost two years," Hiccup said. "How does it feel to have someone step on you?" he asked mockingly. "Or a weapon pointed at you from someone of your village?"
Astrid grimaced at that again, also remembering the conversation they had a few days prior to the Nadder lesson. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. I panicked when I saw the Nadder coming to us and I was stressed and frustrated over the lesson." she apologized.
Hiccup stared down at her for a moment before moving his sword away and went to pull the other sword out of the stone. "That's your second strike, Astrid. One more and then I won't be forgiving." he said before sheathing both his swords and walking away.
Astrid watched him walk away and remained silent before sighing in frustration to herself and facepalming.
"Oh, this is so good," Toothless crooned as he ate fish with his head inside a basket while Hiccup and Baela was adding more attachments to the saddle. A rope that was tightly wound to the Night Fury's tail and connected to two pedals attached to the saddle that should control the prosthetic tail fin with his feet.
Shortly after that, Hiccup tied Toothless to a tree stump and both Daemon and Laena had Vhagar and Caraxes blow air at them and they hovered at the edge of a cliff.
"Don't fight the wind," Toothless muttered intently. "Let the wind carry you. The wind helps you to fly. Respect the wind or you'll end up blown out of the sky. That's what one of the Elder dragons taught me back at the Nest."
"Huh, interesting lesson." Hiccup muttered as he flicked his left foot and the prosthetic tail fin folded out. He did a quick sketch of the tail fin's position as the two larger dragons took a break and Toothless landed on the grass. "Okay, Bud. Let's try again."
"Gladly." Toothless replied. Just as Caraxes resumed to blow air at the Night Fury's wings, Vhagar's nose twitched before she suddenly sneezed and the gust of wind that followed blew Toothless and Hiccup back so hard, the rope snapped and they went flying back into the treeline.
"Bless me," Vhagar muttered to herself.
"Hiccup!" cried out Laena and Baela. The Targaryen girl quickly jumped onto her dragon who flew after the Night Fury-Rider duo.
"Ugh, that came out of no where," Toothless groaned as he rose to his feet.
Moondancer's head leaned in through the trees and Baela jumped down from her saddle. "Hic, are you okay?"
"Fine," Hiccup grunted as he noticed that his harness was still tethered to the saddle. He reached up and tried to unhook it, only to see that the hook was bent to the point the tether would not come off. "Oh great."
"Hiccup," grunted the night watchman that was on patrol, he didn't see anything unusual of Hiccup or the Targaryen sisters speaking outside at night and kept on walking.
Once he was out of view, Hiccup walked to the Forge. Toothless walked out of the alleyway, still tethered to Hiccup's harness.
"Is that guy holding a burning stick?" Toothless asked as he noticed the night watchman walking away with a torch in hand. "How does that work?"
"Toothless, focus." Hiccup whispered to the Fury, tugging on the rope. "Come on. We got to fix this hook."
Baela and Rhaena looked back and forth at the Village Plaza. "Astrid's walking away," Baela said to Hiccup. "The coast is clear."
"Oh, sorry. Hic." Toothless replied and followed Hiccup to the Forge.
Once they entered the Blacksmith Forge, (Thank Odin for Gobber giving him the keys to lock up when he left.) Toothless instantly grew curious of the things inside the Forge.
"Is there food in this?" The Night Fury asked, poking his nose inside a bucket. "Nope!" he threw the bucket across the room, and knocking some weapons down.
Hiccup and the Targaryen sisters winced and hissed. "Toothless, ssh." Hiccup whispered to him as he pulled out some pliers. "Sorry."
"Hiccup? Are you in there?"
The four of them all tensed. Hiccup looked to Baela. "I thought you said she was walking away!" he whispered.
"She must have heard the bucket making noises," Baela whispered back.
"Go keep her distracted," Rhaena said, grabbing the pliers from Hiccup. "I'll fix the hook."
Hiccup nodded and quickly put on an apron and jumped out the Forge window while Baela walked out around to greet Astrid.
"Good evening, Astrid." Hiccup greeted casually. "What can I do for you?"
"Look, Hiccup, I don't mean to sound insulting," Astrid began, "but you've been acting weird lately."
"Oh really? Me being a little angry at you for your treatment of me is weird?" Hiccup asked in cynical manner.
"No, no. That's not what I was referring," Astrid replied. "I meant with Dragon Training."
"Is that sheep over there?" Toothless' voice suddenly asked. Hiccup and Baela glanced to the right and saw a sheep that was looking into the shadows of the Forge with a nervous expression. "Lamb!" Hiccup was suddenly pulled back by the rope.
"Hold still, Toothless!" Rhaena whispered on the other side of the window shutters. This was harder than she thought and the Night Fury wanting to chase the sheep wasn't helping.
Hiccup smiled nervously to Astrid who rose an eyebrow at him. "Well, weirder."
"You're just being salty that Hiccup is becoming better than you." Baela scoffed at the Shield Maiden in-training. "Face it, blondie. Hiccup's brains are better than your brawn. You should have read the book more." she said both smug for her friend and mocking to Astrid.
Astrid narrowed her eyes in response but then Hiccup started. . . floating in front of them. Uh oh, Baela thought with dread before Hiccup yelped as he was pulled in through the window shutters.
Baela stared as Astrid ran forward and opened the shutters to find nothing. The Targaryen sees Hiccup and Rhaena on Toothless, the Night Fury running to the shadows. "Uh, I think I hear my father calling me." she said frantically to Astrid and began to run. "Good night, Astrid!"
"You almost got us caught!" Hiccup scolded Toothless as they flew away from the village.
"It was a sheep, Hiccup!" Toothless replied as they flew away back to the Cove. "A sheep!"
The Berkian fleet had finally returned home after nearly a month long voyage on another search for the Dragons' Nest within Helheim's Gate. Given that they were missing a ship and the other two looked barely seaworthy. Honestly, most of the warriors were wondering why their chief Stoick still thought these voyages would succeed?
"Well, I take it that you found the Nest, at least," Gobber said to Stoick who walked off the first ship onto the dock.
"Not even close," Stoick said gruffly with a scowl.
Gobber's supportive smile disappears. "Ah, excellent." he muttered.
"Who saw that coming?" Daemon rolled his eyes.
"I hope you had better success than me," Stoick said to the two-limbed blacksmith and the silver haired warrior.
"Well, if you mean your parenting troubles are over, then yes." Gobber replied, getting a confused look from the chief. Daemon whacked Gobber on the back of the head and he shrugged at the Targaryen. What did he say?
"Congratulations, Stoick!" A blonde Viking woman said with a smile as she walks up to the chief. "Everyone is SO relieved."
Two other men walk past him. "Out with the old, in with the new, right?" One asked cheerfully.
"No one will miss that old nuisance," the other man said excitedly. "The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"
Stoick watched them walk past them in confusion. "Oi! You three get back over here!" Daemon said as he walked after the three Vikings. They looked to him in confusion. He pulls out a dagger and holds it at the second man's throat.
"Gah! What the Hel?" he asked in surprise and shock, eyes widening in fear.
"Say that again." Daemon said with narrowed eyes.
". . . S-Say what?" the man asked.
"What you just said to the chief," Daemon replied coldly. "Say that again."
The man slowly realized how his words could be interpreted as that Hiccup was either dead or had left and he and his friends were happy about that and frantically waved his hands. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"Really? You sure sounded excited at the idea of the chief's son being gone." Daemon replied, pushing his dagger against the man's throat. "That almost sounds treasonous, doesn't it?"
"I'm sorry!" the man cried. "I didn't mean it like that! I swear!"
". . . Very well." Daemon lowered his dagger. "But let that be a warning to all of you." He called out to all nearby Vikings. "Anyone implies to be excited of Hiccup being missing or dead, I will gut them like fish and throw them into the sea."
Most of the Vikings stared at him fearfully and surprised before looking away.
Stoick stared before turning Gobber. "So, he's not dead?"
"Uh, yes," Gobber drawls to him before he continued walking. "He's just gone. Most afternoons," he added. "But who could blame him? The life of a celebrity is very rough. He can hardly walk through the village without being swarmed by his new fans."
Stoick was relieved that his son wasn't dead or that he left, but what was Gobber talking about? He grabs the blacksmith's shoulder. "Hiccup?" he asked.
"Who would have thought, eh?" Gobber shrugged with a proud smile. "He has this way with the beasts."
Stoick stared at him before imagining his son coming in first place in Dragon Training and he smiles slightly in pride under his thick beard.
It was finally time. Hiccup was going to flying on Toothless for real with Laena, Baela and Rhaena on their dragons. No more tied to a tree stump or over the cove's pond or field of grass. They were really going to fly. They were now up in the clouds on the other side of the island where no Viking could see them. Don't want to get shot down and have to explain to his dragon slayer of a father.
"Okay now, Bud." Hiccup says to the Night Fury. "We're going to take this nice and slow."
He looks down at his cheat sheet on the saddle. "Here we go. Position three-no, four." he said to himself before adjusting the foot pedal on his left. Both Fury and Rider glanced at the tail fin before the dragon looks ahead with a snort. "Let's do this."
"Remember, you two have to be in perfect sync," Laena called out from Vhagar's back. "In your case, that's how you and Toothless have to achieve perfect flight."
"I understand, Mom." Hiccup replied back. The two fly through the air and move to make a complete turn alongside Baela and Rhaena on the back of Moondancer. Hiccup tugs on his cheat sheet before glancing back to the tail fin and sees it hold. "Alright. It's go time, it's go time." He says to himself before the duo dive through the clouds and towards the sea.
"This is where the fun begins!" Toothless declared.
"Come on, buddy!" Hiccups says encouragingly as Toothless' left wing touches the water as they fly above it. "Come on, buddy!"
"Okay, so far so good," Rhaena said to Baela as they glanced back at the Night Fury-Rider duo.
The ebony dragon looks up to the huge stone arc in front of them and Hiccup glances up nervously, as if expecting the sea stack to collapse on them. A bunch of sea birds fly away, scared by the arrival of the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself and Moondancer. Then the duo make it past the stone arc.
Smiling victoriously, Hiccup looks back. "Yes, it worked!" he cheers.
"Alright, Hic!" Baela whooped with Rhaena.
Toothless speeds up. However, they could not change direction fast enough to dodge another sea stack in front of them and this results in them crashing against it. "Sorry!" Hiccup mumbled.
And then they crash into another stack as they turn away from the last one. "That's my fault." Whose fault would it be? The dragon who has flown all his life or the boy who had been flying for almost ten minutes? The dragon slaps his arm with one of his ear frills, a frown on his snout. "Get it together, skin sack!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." Hiccup said in exasperation with a glare of his own. He begins to adjust the pedal. "Position four, eh, three."
The dragon rises up in the air, away from the sea. Toothless lets out a victorious roar as he can finally get back in the air. "Blue sky, here we come!" Hiccup is just as ecstatic as his draconian companion.
"Yeah! Go baby!" he cheers in excitement as they fly past the mountain peaks.
"You're doing it, Hiccup!" cheered Laena with a proud smile.
"Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my-!" Just then, the wind tears off the cheat sheet off its holder.
"CHEAT SHEET! STOP!" He screams, more to the paper than anything, as he manages to catch it in his hand.
However, "Stop? Okay, if you say so." Toothless obeys the command and the momentum carries Hiccup further up, off the saddle and his vest is unhooked from the saddle.
"NOOO!" Hiccup screams as he sees that he is not on Toothless' back. The dragon himself stares up to the boy in fear as he realizes what this meant. "OOOHH NOOO!"
"HICCUP!" shouted Laena and her daughters as both Hiccup and Toothless began to fall towards the ground. "TOOTHLESS!" shouted Moondancer.
"Oh Gronckle shit! Oh Stars of Draco!" Toothless roars in fear, twisting in the air to try and find his rider. "WHY DID YOU TELL ME TO STOP?! THIS HICCUP AND TOOTHLEES! GOING DOWN IN MURDER VIKING ISLAND! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! WE'RE LOSING ALTITUDE!"
Said rider is panicking at the moment. "OH GOSH! OH GODS! OH NO!"
"Hiccup, come back!" called out Toothless.
"Hiccup, get back on Toothless!" Baela and Rhaena shouted as they dove after him on Moondancer.
Hiccup then manages to turn toward his dragon, but as the latter spreads his wings for stabilization, he ends up spinning out of control. "Okay, you gotta-you gotta-angle yourself!" Hiccup shouts over the wind, trying to calm himself down.
"I'm trying!" Toothless still spins out of control and away from Hiccup. "Okay, no, no, no! Come back towards me!" Hiccup shouts, reaching towards the dragon. "Come back toward-OW!" he cried out when Toothless' tail whacked him in the face.
"Sorry! Emergency crash landing imminent!" Toothless cried out while spinning. "Chances of survival is dropping down to zero with every second! It's not looking good!"
The mountains appear behind them and Toothless managed to steady himself and Hiccup grabbed onto the saddle. He put the sheet between his teeth and pulled himself back onto the saddle. He hooked his vest back on and into position. He looks ahead and sees how close they to getting to the ground.
Gritting his teeth on the paper, Hiccup adjusted the pedal and pulled up just in time. Toothless spread his wings and saw the maze of sea stacks in front of them. Laena and her daughters sighed in relief but that didn't last when they saw the duo heading towards the sea stacks.
"Quickly, after them!" Baela said to Moondancer in High Valerian. "On it," Moondancer replied in Dragonese and flew faster.
Eyes widening, Toothless lets out a roar of fear. "HICCUP, DO SOMETHING!"
Hiccup pulls the sheet out of his mouth but the wind makes it impossible to read. They get closer and closer to the sea stacks.
Frustrated, Hiccup throws the sheet away, deciding to just wing it! He presses down on the pedal and opens the fin. Toothless' eyes narrow in determination as the two dive into the sea stack maze.
It's almost impossible to see exactly how they turn, but even at such high speeds the two cooperate in sync so well they manage. Hiccup relies on instincts completely, changing the pedals' position to stabilize the dragon's flight and then again to enable them to barrel roll to avoid a low rock.
The two weave through the stacks seemingly with no problem even though they're both worried but focused.
Baela and Rhaena watched the scene before them in awe as Moondancer flies after them. Before long, they're flying alongside Hiccup and Toothless. The three teens briefly make eye contact before looking up and seeing Vhagar flying above them.
"You kids alright down there?" Vhagar asked. Laena leaned and saw Hiccup and Toothless and sighed in relief. Thank the gods, her boy's okay.
After a few more turns, they exit from the other side, darting out of the fog and back into the open sky. They must have flipped Death off at least ten times in the past ten seconds.
It took a brief moment for Hiccup to realize just what happened. They just flew through a maze where they should have died and survived! The young Viking throws his hands into the air. "YEEAAAHHH!"
"WHOO-HOO!" shouted Baela and her sister.
"WE DID IT!" with a squeal of joy, Toothless celebrates by shooting a plasma blast that explodes in front of them.
Smiling, Laena and Baela get the same idea as Toothless. "Dracarys!" they cried in sync to their dragons and both Moondancer and Vhagar shoot a blast of fire in front of Toothless and Hiccup.
Hiccup's excitement turns to resignation and exasperation. "Oh come on. . ." he moans before the fire engulfs them.
Hiccup stares off to the distance, soot on his face and his hair pushed back. He blinks his emerald eyes as he hears Toothless retching and he looks behind him on the right that the Night Fury had regurgitated a fish head and looked to him questioningly. "Hungry?"
"Uh, no thanks," Hiccup said as politely as he can. He's not going to eat a regurgitated fish again. He holds up the fish he was roasting over a fire. "I'm good."
"Suit yourself," Toothless shrugged and turned back to his pile of fish.
Then Hiccup hears the squeaky hisses and chirps of Terrible Terrors. He glances forward and sees three Terrible Terrors flying and scurrying towards them. "Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine."
Hiccup looked to his Night Fury companion who growls and covers his fish with his paw. "Pesky scaly rats with wings."
"Agreed," Moondancer hisses, wrapping her wing around her fish.
"This ought to be good," Baela muttered.
"Don't even think about it," Toothless growled at the yellow Terror that got close. "Mine?" she asked before a red Terror managed to snatch the fish head he had just regurgitated.
"Hmm. Tasty." The red one said. The yellow one approached him. "Hey, this is my fish head. Go get your own."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The two Terrors fought over the fish head before Toothless saw a fish standing up from his fish pile. "Huh? I wasn't aware a fish out of water could walk," he said in amazement. It was revealed to be a green Terror that managed to sneak into the fish pile.
"Of course it can't." Frowning, Toothless clamped onto the fish before the Terror could move further and easily pulled it out its jaws save for a few bits of fin. Toothless then gulped down the fish in front of the stunned Terror and laughed haughtily in its face.
The Terror spat the fin bits out and stomped his feet angrily while hissing. "Arrogant Night Fury. It was just one fish! You are a fool to challenge me! Back down!"
Hiccup felt concerned, Toothless felt amused. "Please, I dare you."
"You can't defeat me!" The Terror stood on his hind legs and opened his mouth, the gas hissing in his throat, and Toothless just nonchalantly shot a small fireball down the Terror's throat. The little dragon fell down, his stomach expanding like a balloon briefly, and wheezed. ". . . Owie."
Hiccup chuckled as the Terror walked away in a swaying manner. "Not so fireproof on the inside, huh?" He then tosses his fish to the Terror. "Here you go."
He sees the little dragon's face light up in joy before gulping the fish down. "Oh, by the Stars of Draco, that was good!" As Hiccup sat back down to rest against Toothless, the Terror approached him like a cautious cat before nuzzling his arm and curling to rest beside him. "Thank you so much, good man. Because of that, I trust you to not hurt me while I sleep."
Hiccup looked down in surprise and awe. He had to spend a few hours to gain Toothless' trust to pet him. And this Terror had hardly known him for hard a minute and was already cuddling with him after he gave it a single fish.
Were all dragons like this? If given a chance? "Everything we know about you guys," Hiccup suddenly declared as he ran his hand down the sleeping Terror. "Is wrong."
"Night Fury!"
Upon hearing the roar, looking up, Hiccup and Toothless see a dragon flying towards them. The Viking teen furrows his brows. "Hey, Baela, Rhaena, Mom?" he called out to the dragon riders next to him. "Does that dragon look a little familiar to you?"
Laena looked to where Hiccup was pointing and saw the dark purple dragon flying towards them. She narrowed her eyes a little before they widened. "That's. . . a Skrill."
Hiccup's eyes widen as does Baela and Rhaena as the Skrill lands before them all. There was very little information about the Skrill in the Book of Dragons, just like with the Night Fury. But these dragons were just as feared, respected and hated to the Viking Tribes. Legend was that the Skrill was the source of lightning and thunder. That Lightning came out of its mouth and thunder came. . . well, under the tail. But according to the Book of Dragons, it absorbs lightning and redirects it wherever it chooses to. The Berserker Tribe even made the dragon their symbol and Laena had heard rumors that the Berserkers had controlled these dragons in the past.
With someone like Dagur, she wasn't keen on seeing if that was true.
The Strike Class dragon stood on two legs like a Deadly Nadder, and seemed to be almost as big as a Monstrous Nightmare, it had a narrow skull with a curved nasal horn, a frill of spikes on its head like a crown and a row of sharp spines running down its back to its tail tip with a dark grey underbelly. It was also covered in scars. Three of which ran down from its neck and shoulder.
Toothless stood up and bowed his head. "Elder Storm Breaker." he said to the Skrill in a greeting tone.
"Night Fury," the Skrill replied in a commanding voice. "You're alive. That's good to know." he walks up to sit before Toothless. "The others had said that you joined your ancestors, getting shot down during the last Raid to this Viking island." The dragon seems to smile, unlike Toothless, his wasn't well, toothless and unlike Toothless, his teeth were much more sharper like knives or daggers. "But I had hope that you were alive. Us Strikers are harder to kill than most think."
He then looks to Toothless' tail and notices the prosthetic fin. "Ah, I see." His eyes then landed on Hiccup.
"Uh. . . Hi." Hiccup said nervously. "I'm Hiccup."
The Skrill stared at him before looking to Toothless. "This Viking child speaks Dragonese?" he asked. "I was hardly younger than you when I seen or heard a Viking understand our tongue."
"This is Hiccup, as he had said." Toothless replied. He turns to Hiccup. "Hiccup, this is one of my Nest's elder dragons. He was the one who taught me to fly."
"And I'm Moondancer," the young female dragon introduced herself. She gestures to Baela. "This is my Rider, Baela Targaryen. Her mother Laena and her younger sister Rhaena."
"I am Vhagar." grumbled the larger dragon. The Skrill looked at them all before looking to Toothless. "Well, it looks like you've had an interesting three weeks."
Storm Breaker then walked towards Rhaena and stared at her. The young girl leaned back a little with a nervous expression. The Skrill leans forward and smells her.
"She smells of dragon, but it's not like the one called Hiccup or her family," Storm Breaker said.
"I uh, don't have a dragon to ride like my sister or my parents," Rhaena stated nervously. The Skrill looked at her before roaring. "Then we shall change that."
The Skrill turned his head away slightly from Rhaena, exposing his neck and shoulder to her. Rhaena stared at the Strike Class dragon with wide eyes before looking to her family.
Both Hiccup and Baela were giving her encouraging gestures while her mother simply smiled and nodded. Rhaena looked to the Strike Class Dragon and bows her head. "Thank you, Mighty Skrill." she said in a respectful tone before she climbs onto Storm Breaker's back.
"Hold on tight, young Rhaena." the Skrill said to the young Targaryen-Velaryon girl before spreading his wings and taking off from the ground.
Later that night in the forge, Hiccup is at his desk, he had just got done drawing the creature he and Toothless met and was now flicking one of his pencils back and forth absently. Then he noticed someone entering his room. Someone very tall and cannot fit through the door like Gobber or Hiccup can.
He looks to the door and recoils upon seeing who it was. "Dad!" It was his father, Stoick the Vast. "You're back!" He closes his notebook and tries to frantically cover up his drawings of Toothless and the dinosaur like creature. "Uh, G-Gobber's not here! So-"
"I know," Stoick says gruffly as he forces his way through the door. "I came looking for you."
"Y-You did?" Hiccup said in surprise. Stoick had never come looking for Hiccup unless he's heard that the boy has been causing trouble in the village. Usually, he just waits for Hiccup to come home if he wanted to talk.
"You've been keeping secrets," Stoick stated.
"Bah-Uh-I ha-have?" Hiccup stammered, clearly not expecting that. He leans on his drawings to hide them better.
"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" Stoick asked with a glare.
I mean, with the fact that we don't talk a lot most of the time, I thought I'd have about a year or so. the sassy part of Hiccup thought snarky. "I-I-I-I don't know what you are-" he tries form a sentence, but Stoick cuts him off.
"Nothing happens on this island without me knowing." Does that include all the pranks the Thorston twins have pulled on everyone? Stoick sits down, still towering over Hiccup. "So, let's talk. . . about that dragon."
Hiccup almost slips off his desk as he slumps. "Oh gods," he muttered. "Dad, I-I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you, but I-I just didn't know how-"
And Stoick cuts him off again but this time he was laughing hard and loudly. Nervous and confused, Hiccup laughs along with him. "Y-You're not upset?" he asked.
"What?! I was hoping for this!" Stoick says with wide grin. For your son to tame and befriend the deadliest dragon of them all?
"Uh, you were?" Hiccup asked.
"And believe me, it only gets better." Either they're talking about two different things or Stoick tamed a dragon in his youth. Hiccup was starting to think that for just a second before his father spoke again. "Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time!"
Oh.
"And mount your first Gronckle head on a spear?" Stoick suddenly playfully hits Hiccup in the shoulder, but his playful hit sent Hiccup flying into a basket behind him. "What a feeling! You really had me going there, Son!" Stoick says as Hiccup struggled to pull himself out of the basket, his father unaware of this and continued to ramble in excitement. "All those years as the WORST Viking Berk as ever seen!"
Hiccup froze and looked up at him shock. He didn't just say that right? It couldn't have been true right? Surely not even his father saw him as the worst Viking in the village. Worse than Mildew? The Twins? Right?
"Odin, it was rough!" Stoick went on. "I almost gave up on you! And all this time you've been holding out on me? Oh, Thor Almighty!" He lowers his voice. "With you doing so well in the Ring, we finally have something to talk about."
Hiccup finally managed to stand straight but shuffled back and forth on his feet. Stoick still held his smile as he scooted his seat forward.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Stoick's smile dropped as he reached behind him. "Oh, I brought you something." he said softly. He pulls out a dark gray helmet with curved horns. He adjusted one horn and held it out to Hiccup. "To keep you safe in the Ring."
Hiccup felt surprised but touched. "Wow. Thanks." he whispered softly as he ran his hand over it. "Aye, your mother would have wanted you to have it." Stoick replied. "It's half of her breast plate."
And just like, the mood is changed. Hiccup now felt uncomfortable as he moved his hand away from the helmet as Stoick taps his own. "Matching set. Keeps her-Keeps her close, you know?"
Hiccup placed the helmet on the desk. "Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You held your end of the deal." Stoick said firmly.
Hiccup stared at his father before deciding to act tired. He stretches his arms and let out an exasperated yawn. "I should really get to bed."
Stoick nods. "Yeah. . . Yeah. Good-Good talk." he says awkwardly as he moves to stand up.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you back at the house," Hiccup said nervously. "Thanks for stopping by. . ."
"I'm glad I stopped by." They end up talking over each other.
". . . And for the. . . the breast hat."
"Glad you like the. . . the hat." Stoick clears his throat as he stands up. The two Haddocks look at each other awkwardly. "Good night." Stoick bids on his way out.
Hiccup nods good night and the Chief squeezes his way out the door. Once he's gone, the boy sighs and shakes his head while placing his hands on his hips. Well that went well, he thought to himself.
Outside, Stoick sighs to himself with a nod and his hands on his hips. That went well. He thinks to himself before he moves to walk away, accidentally knocks some stuff down. He adjusts his helmet, makes sure no one saw him before leaving.
Daemon stared after the chief before entering the forge without making a rukus like the larger Haddock.
"Well done, Hiccup." he said to the Viking heir upon entering the back room. Hiccup yelped, turning around before sighing.
"Laena told me about how your flight went," Daemon said. "Nearly falling to your death but you quickly got on Toothless and then navigated through the Meridian of Misery on instinct alone. Well done, lad. Well done, indeed."
"Thanks," Hiccup smiled as Daemon ruffled his hair. Daemon leaned back. "When I begun your training, you were a cub, clumsy and undisciplined. Now, you're a Dragon. Trained and ready to fly across the sky." he said proudly.
Hiccup hugged Daemon, Stoick's words of being the Worst Viking Berk as ever seen forgotten.