When the wall painted itself with colour once more the four figures in the room turned back to it with smiles, though they dampened a little at the sight of Not-Hiccup staring down from his place atop a wooden contraption attached to the side of a cliff. His gaze was just as dejected as it had been back in the scene when he was disowned and his shoulders were slumped in defeat.

Toothless watched as below him Vikings got ready to dismount on boats and he roared a little in alarm at the sight of him, chained and fighting against his restraints, being lifted into one of the boats. Not-Stoick was there too, looking around and giving orders to all the Vikings. For a moment his eyes lifted and he met Not-Hiccup's sad look. The boy shook his head at his father but the Viking just hardened his gaze and walked up to Not-Toothless. They couldn't hear what he told the dragon on the wall, but Toothless didn't fool himself into thinking the Viking was taking him anywhere fun.

"Hey, Hiccup? Look – you still have both legs here." Astrid noted.

The boy hummed. "Yeah, you're right." He squinted his eyes. "I think I did when Dad disowned me, too. And if they have Toothless here," His hand landed on the dragon's snout absently. Toothless didn't mind one bit. "And I just told Dad he could get to their island with Toothless…" His face paled. "Oh, no… they're going to the Nest! Didn't I say there was a dragon there that they had no chance of winning up against?"

Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other worriedly. At least Stoick didn't seem to hear them, being too busy cringing at his own image on the wall. Toothless wanted to feel upset about this whole thing, but he knew whatever Hiccup and Stoick were going through in this future… they were going to solve it, and Toothless was still there. But GODS! He was going to be taken by force to the queen? How were these people still alive?! How was he still alive?!

The scene flickered though it still showed Not-Hiccup standing in the same place, in the same posture. The fleet of ships was gone, though, and the sky was a little brighter, so he must have been standing there for quite some time. Plus, now Not-Astrid was standing behind him quietly, her eyes locked on Not-Hiccup. She hesitated for a moment before approaching him. His eyes trailed towards her but before they really looked at her his expression hardened a bit and he seemed to shift away from her.

A few moments passed with them just standing there, watching the ocean. Then Not-Astrid finally spoke up. "It's a mess." She said with a slight shake of her head. In the room, Hiccup lifted an eyebrow. "You must feel horrible. You've lost everything," She pressed on and both Hiccups – on the wall and off – seemed like the words irritated them. No, actually. Not-Hiccup's face actually fell, as if he was getting more upset and sad rather than angry. "Your father, your tribe, your best friend…"

The annoyance won out. "Thank you for summing that up." He drawled out and in the room, Astrid cringed at her future self, looking sheepishly and apologetically at Hiccup who tried to smile at her. It looked more like a grimace. "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods?" He asked aloud, though he didn't look like he meant it – he just sounded like he had lost all hope. "It would have been better for everyone."

Toothless growled and Hiccup flinched before he scratched his head a little. "Yeah, except for you, bud. And me. You know I didn't really mean it, Toothless, right?" He asked and the Night Fury warbled contently before letting his head fall back into the boy's lap.

"Yup. The rest of us would have done it." Not-Astrid said, almost sounding cheerful. But then she turned her head to look at Not-Hiccup, her eyes narrowed a little like she was trying to see right through him, into his soul. She looked intrigued. "So why didn't you?" She asked and when Not-Hiccup just stood there, she pressed on. "Why didn't you?"

Rolling his eyes to the sky, the boy shrugged. "I dunno." He began to walk away from her a little, his expression getting more irritated. "I couldn't."

She did not seem pleased. "That's not an answer."

"Astrid, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked suspiciously but the girl just rolled her shoulders and stared at the wall, her gaze calculating. She looked like she had an idea but wasn't too sure about it. To Toothless, this looked like a strange kind of torture. However… maybe comforting others was somehow different for humans. He had no idea.

Brows furrowed in anger, Not-Hiccup turned to glare at her. "Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?"

Not-Astrid didn't look like she minded dealing with an angry Not-Hiccup, though. "Because I wanna remember what you say RIGHT NOW." She leaned in when he turned his back to her again.

His eyes closed for a second before he swirled back to look at her, a lot more irritated. "Oh, for the love of – I was a coward. I was weak. I wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"You said 'wouldn't' that time," Not-Astrid noted with a proud smile.

"Uh, whatever! I wouldn't!" The more upset he got, the more he flailed his arms around. After the future scene of Astrid mocking him about it, Hiccup looked like he couldn't stop noticing it because he both cringed and laughed at that, his hand flying to rub the back of his neck. Astrid giggled a little from her place as well, looking delighted. "Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!"

They stared at each other for a long moment before Not-Hiccup turned back around, his head hung low. Behind him, Not-Astrid looked just as determined as before. "First to ride one, though, so…"

A spark lit in the boy's eyes and he looked up, a little thoughtful. "I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was." He once more faced her, though his eyes were pointed to their feet. Toothless didn't think it was to avoid her gaze, though, because the expression on his face and the way he talked… all made him believe that Not-Hiccup was just remembering that day in the woods all over again and trying to understand what went through his head back then. "I looked at him…" He stared intently into Not-Astrid's eyes. "And I saw myself."

Toothless crooned until Hiccup laughed and petted him. "Yeah, bud? What do you say? Do you approve?" He asked and when Toothless warbled playfully, the boy lowered his head until his forehead was pressed against Toothless's. "I can't wait to go back and actually meet you, buddy." He whispered so that only Toothless could hear him. The dragon stared into his wide forest-green eyes and couldn't help but agree. Hiccup saw himself in Toothless? Well, he wasn't the only one. No wonder they got along so well – they were so much alike!

Not-Astrid looked surprised by the answer, but she smiled a little at it, as if finally satisfied. "I bet he's really frightened now." She noted and Not-Hiccup looked sad again, all of his anger gone. "What are you gonna do about it?" She probed.

He shrugged with a grimace. "Eh… probably something stupid."

"Good. But you've already done that."

"Gee, thanks." Hiccup deadpanned and Astrid's cheeks reddened a little at her bluntness on the wall. Hiccup smiled at her genuinely then. "Really, though… thanks." And he winced in pain when her response was to hit him in the arm. Again. But there was still the hint of a smile on his face like he was starting to understand what those punches really meant. About time.

A look of inspiration crept onto Not-Hiccup's face and he started going back and hopping in place as the adrenaline burned through his body. He pointed at Not-Astrid. "Then something crazy." And he ran off.

"That's more like it." Not-Astrid nodded and then ran after him.

Before they could react, the scene changed to Not-Hiccup standing in the arena Toothless knew the Vikings called the Kill Ring. It was where they trapped the dragons they captured during raids. He shifted a bit in his place, uncomfortable at the sight of the place, and then focused on Not-Hiccup who stood before one of the cages, sizing up the lock of it.

"If you're planning on getting eaten," A familiar voice said behind him, startling Not-Hiccup. "I'd definitely go with the Gronckle."

All of the teens – the twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs (the one who spoke up) and Not-Astrid were there, glaring at Not-Hiccup. The boy held their gazes, though, instead of flinching away from them like Toothless saw present Hiccup doing. He looked like he wasn't going to let anyone stand in his way, no matter what. But then Not-Astrid and Snotlout smirked and the male twin pushed his way forward, shoving his sister casually.

"You were wise to seek help from the world's most dangerous weapon." He said and walked up to Not-Hiccup. The boy, for his part, lost his determined gaze as he stared confusedly at the twin, his eyes a little wide, like he didn't understand what he meant or what he was even doing there. When Not-Hiccup didn't say anything, the twin leaned in a little closer. "It's me." He added.

He was shoved aside by Snotlout who smiled widely at Not-Hiccup, his eyes almost admiring. In the room, both Hiccup and Astrid gaped at that. "I LOVE this plan!"

"I didn't – "

Not-Hiccup didn't get to say anything before the female twin punched Snotlout to make him leave so that she could stand in front of Not-Hiccup. She glared at him. "You're crazy!" Then she smiled, leaning forward, and Not-Hiccup itched away from her the best he could. "I like that." She added in a whisper.

Toothless noted with a smirk that Astrid looked annoyed by that statement. And he was even more amused to see the way Not-Astrid pulled the twin away from Not-Hiccup before standing in front of him herself, her hands on her hips. She was taller than Not-Hiccup, Toothless could tell now. But he finally smiled when he saw her. "So… what is the plan?"

Not-Hiccup looked from her to the teens behind her and then back to her with a relieved and content smile a moment before the scene flickered and showed him backing up from one of the pens, his hand held before the snout of a calm Monstrous Nightmare that followed him, looking into Not-Hiccup's eyes and looking a lot less monstrous. Stoick and Astrid both gasped at the sight of that and gave Hiccup an appraising look that the boy smiled nervously under. He gave Toothless a helpless look and the dragon just crooned at him. He wasn't going to doubt Hiccup could calm down a dragon. If he could befriend a dragon he SHOT OUT OF THE SKY and basically DISABLED? There was not a dragon out there that he couldn't befriend. Especially when the shot-down dragon was a Night Fury.

The teens behind Not-Hiccup watched with wonder and awe except for Snotlout – the one who LOVED the plan. He bounced in his place nervously and then reached down to try and take the weapon that was on the ground near his feet. Toothless tensed at that, knowing the Nightmare wouldn't like that, until he noticed the way Not-Astrid flicked Snotlout for that and shook her head, making him drop it back down, though he still looked like he wanted to bolt out of there.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Snotlout got scared of something that wasn't you, Astrid." Hiccup noted.

The girl smirked.

Not-Hiccup kept on backing up until he reached the row of teens. He stopped next to Snotlout and tried to grab his hand but the buffy hatchling shifted away, eyeing the dragon like it was going to hurt him. Ignoring that, Not-Hiccup glanced at him, held his arm and began to try and pull it towards the dragon, looking annoyed.

"Wait!" Snotlout objected. "What are you – "

"Relax," Not-Hiccup said and began to look at both the dragon and the boy calmly, realizing they both needed it. In the room, Stoick nodded his head appreciatively, though Toothless didn't know what it was about. Maybe something to do with the way Hiccup cared about both the dragon and the boy. Toothless thought it was nice of him, that's for sure. "It's okay. It's okay." Not-Hiccup said and it was unclear whether he was talking to Snotlout or the Nightmare. He pulled Snotlout's arm slowly towards the dragon's snout and Astrid and Hiccup leaned forward to watch with wide eyes and wonder. Replacing the hands, Not-Hiccup smiled when the Nightmare turned his calm stare to Snotlout. The boy himself huffed in relief and smiled a little at the red dragon.

He laughed a little, probably from the nerves, until Not-Hiccup walked away, alarming him. "Where are you going?!" He demanded, looking after Not-Hiccup and yet still keeping an eye on the dragon before him.

Not-Hiccup, on his part, went over to a box before he pulled out a bunch of ropes. "You're gonna need something to help you hold on." He said and the teens looked at him in confusion before turning to look at three more dragons that were in the arena, all free and calm. A familiar, blue Deadly Nadder; an orange, sweet Gronckle; and, last but not least, a green, mischievous Hideous Zippleback.

Stoick laughed. "Oh, my boy, you trained the dragons we have in the arena!" He said, and instead of sounding disgusted or annoyed like he did before, he looked proud. Hiccup himself looked like he couldn't believe what he was going to do in the future. Toothless couldn't blame him – to see himself calming down dragons when he came from a village where killing a dragon was something that brought pride to the family. Unheard of!

"Yeah…" Hiccup mumbled, awestruck. "I guess I did."

When the next scene started, they were all taken aback by the action already happening on it. Toothless grumbled a little unhappily when he noticed there were nets being thrown at his future self. Not-Toothless was twisting in the air with Not-Hiccup on his back, clad in his body armour. Alright, so they jumped in time again. Beside them was Not-Astrid on her Deadly Nadder. They both avoided the nets without breaking a sweat and then landed on a ship with hostile men. One of them, Toothless realized, was the one who handed Not-Astrid and the others (except for Hiccup) to Drago in the scene they've seen at the beginning. Okay, so they watched the same future in parts and, Toothless assumed, out of order. Ugh, this was going to give him a headache.

Pulling his helmet off, Not-Hiccup revealed that he was, in fact, smiling. Beside him, Not-Astrid was scowling and getting ready to fight with her axe, still on top of the Nadder. Stoick tensed immediately while the hatchlings looked at each other in worry, not sure what to expect.

"And here I was, worried we might turn up empty-handed." The leader of the hostile Vikings (he had to be their leader, right?) walked up to Not-Hiccup and pointed his dagger at him, smirking proudly.

To everyone's surprise, on and off the wall, Not-Hiccup signalled for Not-Astrid to calm down and not attack. "Nope. It's your lucky day." Taken aback, the girl's body fell limp on her Nadder's back and she watched with her mouth wide open as Not-Hiccup lifted his arms in the air, surrendering. "We give up."

It was quiet for a moment before Astrid scowled at Hiccup. The boy blinked at the scene a few times before noticing the glare from the girl. He whimpered and shook his head at her and at his confused and angry father, waving his arms in front of him. "I-I-I don't know what future me is thinking, I… I swear!" He pleaded with them.

"Hiccup, if I get caught because YOU handed me over to those lunatics, I'm gonna – "

"Hand you over?" Hiccup repeated meekly. "You're Astrid Hofferson – I can't make you do anything. If they catch you, it's because you didn't fight. And if you didn't fight, that means you trusted me. And if you trust me, then…" He shrugged. "It either means that you had a reason to or that you completely lost it at some point in the future." When her scowl deepened he laughed nervously. "I-is it getting hot in here? Whoo! M-maybe we should open a window or something."

Stoick shook his head at his son, exasperated. "For the sake of both of you, I hope you know what you're doing."

And with one last glare from Astrid, they turned back to watch the wall, Hiccup slumping down. Toothless didn't know who he should side with. Sure, he trusted Hiccup. Maybe not as much as future he did, but still enough to know that his human would look after him. He went after him to the Nest after seeing what was in it! To save Toothless! And… probably his father too, but Toothless was a part of that equation. Hiccup cared about him. So he wouldn't let them both get captured just like that. Right?

Hopping off a pretty calm Not-Toothless, Not-Hiccup bent down to grab a net from the deck of the ship. "That's one Night Fury, uh, one Deadly Nadder, and…" He turned around and threw the net at a shocked Not-Astrid who just followed his example and got off her dragon. In the room, Toothless curled a little tighter around Hiccup when he tried to scoot away from a seething Astrid. Whether future Hiccup was really crazy or not, he wasn't going to let the girl hurt him. Not that she really could. "Two of the finest Dragon Riders of Luk Tuk." He shoved daggers and weapons that the men on the ship aimed at them as he led Not-Astrid to the back, looking casual while the girl just tried to get herself out of the net. Behind him, Not-Toothless hissed at the leader and the others as he followed them. "That ought to make the boss happy, right? Excuse us."

"What are you doing?" Not-Astrid whispered when she jumped into a prison cell in the belly of the ship.

Ignoring her, Not-Hiccup climbed down himself and turned to Not-Toothless. "Toothless, stay…" He said and the dragon rumbled at him in confusion, his eyes wide and searching, unsure. "Uh, the dragons don't really care for cramped spaces,"

"Yeah, and neither do I," Astrid grumbled. Hiccup chuckled awkwardly.

"So they'll just hang out with you." Not-Hiccup went on, oblivious to the present girl's irritation at the entire situation. Not-Toothless just paced in front of the now closed cage his rider and mate were in, still confused and probably also worried. "They won't be any trouble." As soon as he said that the men on the ship aimed all their weapons at Not-Toothless who jumped in alarm and gave them a wide-eyed look. Toothless whined when Hiccup chuckled a little at the scene. He stopped, though, when Not-Toothless crouched low and hissed angrily at the men. Not-Hiccup peeked his head from the cage to look at them all. "Unless you do that." He sounded so casual when he spoke, it was funny. "You know, wooden boats, big ocean… How is your swimming?"

Stoick groaned and facepalmed while Astrid chuckled against her will and shook her head in annoyance. Hiccup himself was busy trying to ignore the fact that Toothless chortled at his dry humour. Alright, he loved this boy. He could live knowing that. He swatted at Hiccup playfully when the boy tried to make him stop laughing at him and Hiccup shrieked lightly, protecting himself with his hands and laughing himself. "T-Toothless! Stop, stop!" He protested further when Toothless licked him again, covering his head in drool. "Ew! No, stop!" Once Toothless calmed down, Hiccup glared at him, although his eyes were crinkled with mirth. "Bad dragon. Very bad dragon."

Toothless's response was to snort in his face and then flick his tail against the boy's head lightly. Hiccup chuckled fondly and rubbed his head with a wide grin. Yup, Toothless did a pretty good job at making his tiny human happy. Even Astrid seemed to agree with that because she sent the Night Fury a nod as if supporting his actions. At least she could see he was helping his future rider.

To the Vikings' amusement and the annoyance of the leader on the wall, one of his men actually answered Not-Hiccup. "Not good."

They all backed down in alarm when a sword cut through the cage before flaming up. Toothless crooned and cocked his head in interest at the sight of it while Stoick, Astrid and Hiccup all awed at it. They looked like they'd just seen the most amazing thing in the world, and that was after watching people riding on the backs of dragons.

The sword retracted quickly into some cylindrical invention Not-Hiccup was holding. He shoved his head out of the cage again and lifted the weird, magic sword. "Oops. Almost forgot." He handed the sword to a curious man. "Can't have armed prisoners."

"How is this a plan?" Not-Astrid asked from below him. Not-Hiccup's only reply was to wave his hand in a calming manner as if asking her to roll with him and relax. She didn't seem to argue with him, for some reason, which seemed to confuse and upset Astrid to the point where she stared at the wall with a lost and almost pained expression. Toothless couldn't blame her.

Not-Hiccup kept on talking to the men on the boat. "Just what every dragon trapper needs." He smiled as the men messed around with the sword, trying to understand how it worked. "One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare saliva." His smile turned into a smirk when they pressed a button that released green gas in their faces. Not-Hiccup backed down at that, back into the cage. "The other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas. All it takes is a spark, and…"

He cringed with a smile just as the leader ran away from the gas and the men pressed another button on the strange invention. It ignited the gas and blew in their faces. When Not-Hiccup looked back up he saw smoke everywhere, confused men coughing and staring ahead in shock and the dragons playfully mess around with the embers flying around.

"Oh, yeah. There you go!" He congratulated them while Not-Toothless played around the men. The leader looked pissed off. "Once they see you as one of their own, even the testiest dragons can be trained. Right, bud?" He asked as Not-Toothless lost his balance walking on two legs and stumbled back, still watching the ember and rumbling at it.

The leader ran to his men and snatched the sword from them. "Give me that!" He threw it off the boat with a grunt and turned to Not-Hiccup with a chilly, cautious glare. Behind him, the Nadder flew off with a screech to get the sword back. "What game are you playing?"

Not-Hiccup shook his head at him just in time for the Nadder to arrive back on deck. She dropped the sword to the leader's feet. "No game." He said and the leader threw the sword to the other side, again. The Nadder followed it. Astrid smacked her forehead, mumbling something about how stupid her dragon was. "We just want to meet Drago."

"WHAT?!" Stoick screamed and turned to glare at a confused Hiccup. "Stay away from Drago Bludvist, son! Trust me, this madman isn't someone you want to mess around with." He warned in a dark voice. Hiccup and Astrid glanced at each other before shrugging. They clearly had no idea who this man was. Toothless didn't know, either, of course, so he couldn't really help in any way except to be there for Hiccup.

"Why?" The leader asked, ignoring the way Not-Toothless crouched playfully next to Not-Hiccup, looking at them with a look that made Astrid snicker into her palm. Toothless hissed at her, insulted, but relaxed when Hiccup scratched him a little on the head.

Finally looking serious, Not-Hiccup leaned on one hand out of the cage. "Because I'm going to change his mind about dragons." The men laughed at that. The leader only stopped to stare incredulously as the Nadder dropped the sword near his feet again.

Not-Astrid climbed out to lean next to the boy, an understanding smile on her face. "He can be really persuasive." She supported him and Hiccup gaped at the magical wall, clearly not understanding how the girl in the room with him turned from someone so hostile who didn't really trust him to… this supportive, loving, happy person that they saw in the future. Even Astrid herself looked a bit confused, though when she gave Hiccup an assessing look once more, she nodded to herself, to the boy's embarrassment, as if agreeing with whatever her future self saw in him.

"Once you've earned his loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won't do for you." Not-Hiccup went on and rubbed Not-Toothless's head with a loving gaze. The dragon gave him a happy rumble and then turned in sync with his rider to look at the men.

"You won't be changing any minds around here." The leader taunted him.

"I can change yours," Not-Hiccup said confidently and Not-Astrid watched with a knowing smirk like she believed every word he said and knew it to be true. Toothless assumed she had to believe it, seeing as he somehow persuaded her in the future to not see dragons as the enemy but as friends and allies. "Right here, right now." He pulled a lever on Not-Toothless's saddle and the red tailfin opened, confusing the men a little. Not-Hiccup got out of the cage and gestured to the Night Fury. "Uh, may I?"

Before the leader could react, Not-Hiccup was snatched out of there with a sharp yell by a screeching dragon. Dragons swooped in, too fast for the Vikings and Toothless in the room to see and cut through the sail of the boat. Not-Astrid frowned and got out of the cage to stand next to the leader and look up. Meanwhile, Not-Toothless, unable to fly, raced up by climbing the poles of the boat. Once he was up and growling at the dragon who had his rider, though, his eyes widened and he relaxed, looking confused again.

"Put me down!" Not-Hiccup shouted and then Stoick, Hiccup and Astrid all gasped and groaned at the sight of Hookfang, with Snotlout on top, holding Not-Hiccup in his talons. Next to him flew the green Zippleback with the twins on top and the orange Gronckle with Fishlegs riding it. "Snotlout! Wha-what are you doing?!"

Smiling smugly, Snotlout turned to the female twin. "See how well I protect and provide?" He boasted and the girl groaned in disgust. Meanwhile, Astrid cheered.

"YES! He finally moved on!" She exclaimed happily. "I can't wait for the time when I don't have to deal with Snotlout flirting with me all the time!"

Stoick smirked. "Yeah, well, he knows he has no shot with you because you're already taken, lass." The adult Viking said smugly and Astrid's cheers cut off as she covered her flushed face, hiding behind her bangs. Hiccup just whined something that Toothless didn't think meant anything, not really, and tried to disappear from the room unsuccessfully.

"Hey," The male twin shouted when they had to duck in order to not get hit by nets from the boat. "What is with all the nets?!"

"Hey, watch it!" That was cloooooose… oh, my…" The female twin fixed her eyes on the leader as he aimed the net launcher at them and, to everyone's alarm, spread her arms instead of running away from the approaching net. "Me likey… Take me!" She said, clearly lovesick. Toothless and Hiccup fake-retched in disgust while Astrid groaned in dismay. Stoick just shook his head, like he couldn't believe he was actually watching this.

With a frown, Not-Hiccup threw himself forward so that Hookfang lost his grip on him and began to fall to the ground. With the help of his flying suit, though, he glided peacefully back to the ship, avoiding a net and using a rope to get down to the deck. Once he landed, he was instantly accompanied by Not-Toothless. "Umm… what are you guys doing here?"

Another Viking on a dragon landed on the boat. The Viking was familiar – the blacksmith from before – but the dragon he rode wasn't. It was chubby and large and resembled a Gronckle, only not quite. "We're here to rescue you." The Viking said, as if it was obvious, while the men on the deck ran away from him and his dragon, that… seemed to have fallen asleep?!

"I don't need to be rescued." Not-Hiccup protested and walked towards the Blacksmith and Not-Astrid.

Another dragon landed heavily on the boat and the Viking riding it shouted with a familiar voice. "ENOUGH!" At the sound of the voice, Not-Hiccup seemed to turn around with a little worry. For the first time since arriving on that boat, he seemed unsure. And to think that the one approaching him wasn't even an enemy (Toothless had to assume), but his own father.

"Hmm. I guess I have my own dragon, then." Stoick nodded, appreciating the large, menacing dragon. Toothless snorted unhappily. He could take this dragon, no problem. As if reading his mind, Hiccup snickered. "I guess this one will have to do."

Obviously not paying attention to the change in atmosphere, the leader of the ship marched towards Not-Stoick with false bravado, his chest puffed out. "Well, didn't you just pick the wrong ship, eh?" He walked towards the chief but the man didn't even seem to be paying attention to him. Behind Not-Stoick, Not-Hiccup looked hesitant. "I am Eret, son of Eret…" The last word turned out muffled because Not-Stoick shoved him with a hand to the face and the blacksmith quickly knocked him out with a swing to the head with his prosthetic hand. A moment later, Eret was crushed by the giant dragon the blacksmith was riding, squeezing the air out of his lungs. Looked painful.

The other riders landed on the ship as well and surrounded Eret's men. When the blacksmith teased them, daring them to retaliate against them, Snotlout stepped up and pounded his fist against his palm with a smirk. The men backed away without a word seeing that they weren't going to win this fight. Seeing that, Not-Stoick turned to glare at his son.

"You, saddle up. We're going home." He grunted.

Not-Hiccup finally snapped out of his concerned state and looked back at his father. "No."

Astrid let out some air, glancing between a horrified Hiccup and a shocked, stunned Stoick. Toothless had no idea what those two were usually like, but he could guess that Stoick wasn't used to his son bluntly refusing to obey him. Of course, that was the future where it looked like Hiccup was already an adult and didn't really HAVE to listen to his father… but seeing as the man was also the chief, he was probably used to people doing as he said.

However, something told Toothless that Hiccup wasn't one to really… follow orders. Maybe it was that he shot down a Night Fury and then let him go. Maybe it was that he actually befriended the Night Fury. Maybe it had something to do with how Stoick's expression turned to one of exhaustion like he couldn't believe he still had to deal with all of this in the future. He appeared to be used to all of this. Though in the future, Not-Stoick looked like he was fuming.

"Of all the irresponsible – "

"I'm trying to protect our dragons and stop a war!" Not-Hiccup cut him off, sounding irritated himself. "How is that irresponsible?!"

"Because war is what he wants, son!" Not-Stoick bellowed but his son just huffed and looked away, obviously not ready to give up. When he turned to give Not-Stoick a questioning look, the man sighed and looked down, his eyes far away and distant. "Years ago, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we all faced. Into our midst came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin." He described Drago, making Toothless remember the large, mean Viking from the beginning. He looked up at Hiccup who returned his concerned look. "He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and that he alone could keep us safe IF we chose to bow down and follow him."

Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins all laughed at that. The twins even mocked the man, claiming he was stupid and acting like it was a joke.

Not-Stoick didn't look amused. And neither did Not-Astrid and Not-Hiccup. "Aye, we laughed, too. Until he wrapped himself in his cloak and cried out, 'Then see how well you do without me!'. The rooftop suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armoured dragons descended…" His voice turned hard as he continued to tell them all about the memory. Toothless crooned quietly and Hiccup petted him absently, his eyes not leaving the wall. "Burning the hall to the ground." Not-Stoick looked at the sky and his voice broke a little. "I…" He closed his eyes and looked back at Not-Hiccup, saddened. "…Was the only one to escape." The teens all sobered up at that and Not-Hiccup looked at him, his mouth open yet no words coming out. "Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with."

"Maybe," Not-Hiccup said and turned back to Not-Toothless, ignoring his father's glare.

Toothless snorted at his rider's stubbornness and watched with mild amusement as his father followed him, clearly at his last straw. "Hiccup!"

"I'm still going to try." He mounted Not-Toothless and Not-Astrid stopped next to Not-Stoick, watching the two. "This is what I'm good at," He tried to reason with his father. "And-and if I could change your mind, I can change his, too." While his father looked like he wanted to shout at him again, Not-Astrid nodded her head in encouragement, smiling.

Groaning, Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not enough I have to deal with my son's disregard for my orders, now I have to keep an eye on you, too, lass?" He asked tiredly and while Hiccup smiled nervously, clearly used to it, Astrid looked shocked and awkward, like she couldn't imagine ever going against her chief. Then again, that was the future. But, Toothless had to remind himself, that she already went against Stoick a long time before this piece of future, when she helped Hiccup collect the other teens to fly to the Nest on top of dragons.

"Umm…" The girl stuttered. "I-I mean… yeah, it looks like I'm about to trust Hiccup a lot pretty soon." She gave the boy another observing look and this time actually smiled at him. He blinked in surprise before smiling back. "But he is the future chief, right? So… shouldn't I listen to him?"

"Ugh." The chief sighed and just turned back to watch the scene as it played out. On it, Not-Hiccup and Not-Toothless flew out of there and Not-Astrid quickly ran to her Nadder as well, urging her to follow Not-Hiccup.

"No!" Not-Stoick stated firmly and Not-Astrid's face fell when he approached her, still frowning deeply. "Lead the others back to Berk. I've had enough mutiny for one day." He walked away and Not-Astrid looked regretfully at the sky.

The wall turned black again, and the scene ended.

Stoick sighed. "Are you EVER going to listen?" He asked and gave Hiccup a sideways glance. The boy chuckled a little but didn't really answer the question. Maybe because the answer was a definitive no. Maybe because he just didn't know or didn't want to upset his father. Or maybe he just didn't want to answer, as simple as that. "At least you're growing up to be a fine, young man, son." The Viking relented and Hiccup's eyebrows shot up in both delighted surprise and awkwardness.

Sending him a wary look, Astrid turned to Hiccup. "Just don't get me into too much trouble, alright?" She said dryly. "Because I'd like to be able to come back home with all my limbs."

"Oh, haha. R-really funny. All your limbs." Hiccup rolled his eyes in mock exasperation and Astrid smirked at him. Toothless even stifled a chortle that went unnoticed by Hiccup. He did feel a little bad when Hiccup looked down at his legs with a frown as if trying to understand what went wrong in the future.