The next scene started when no one said anything. It showed Not-Hiccup – young and with both legs – standing with a shield and an axe in his hands inside the Kill Ring. He seemed casual, though, talking up to the blacksmith who leaned against the metal cage above the arena. There were muffled voices behind him, but the scene let them hear his words better.

"Hey, you know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies." He said. Toothless warbled happily. So at this point, Hiccup already knew of him, probably – why else would he be so interested in Night Furies? – and wanted to know more. "Is there another book, or a-a sequel? Maybe a-a Night Fury pamphlet?"

He barely even finished the sentence before a blast of fire hit the head of the axe, burning it and the wall behind the boy to a crisp. Not-Hiccup yelped in alarm and looked around while the blacksmith scolded him from above for not even trying to pay attention. Toothless cocked his head to the side, curious at first, and then noticed the blue Deadly Nadder coming to attack Not-Hiccup and he bared his teeth. That was Astrid's future dragon attacking his rider. Why did he seem to like her so much in the future, again?

Moving from side to side without making a decision, Not-Hiccup eventually dived to one side and began to escape the Nadder, looking terrified. The place he ran in – the arena – was organized like a maze, for some reason. The other teens were there too, with weapons and shields accompanying them as well. The blacksmith shouted to them about their lesson – Toothless growled. They were learning how to kill dragons, then. When he gave Hiccup an unimpressed glare, the boy twisted his lips in disgust as well.

"Sorry, bud." He apologized. "I guess I'm gonna go to dragon training soon, huh?" He looked up and both he and Toothless noticed the guilt-ridden face of Stoick. Alright, so maybe he was already meant to go to this… dragon-training thing. "It's okay," Hiccup whispered in his ear. "I promise I won't really hurt those dragons, bud. You know that, right?"

Toothless crooned and went back to watching the wall, where… Not-Hiccup was still running from the Nadder. She followed him and only stopped twice to attack both Fishlegs and the twins. Luckily, they all remained alive. The twins even ran along with Not-Hiccup for a while, escaping the Nadder, before the boy stopped close to the blacksmith again. Toothless flicked him with his tail, silently reprimanding him for being so stubborn in the wrong place and time.

"Hey-hey, so… how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

Again, Toothless flicked him. Hiccup grumbled in annoyance and swatted his head lightly, making Toothless shake it from side to side a little. It felt weird but he didn't really mind it. They didn't know each other that well and yet this small Viking hatchling was already brave enough to fight back a Night Fury. Toothless had to respect that if nothing else. Bold and brave. Also, as observed, crazy, clumsy and reckless. He liked all of those qualities.

The blacksmith rolled his eyes. "No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." When Not-Hiccup still didn't move, the blacksmith got angry. "Now get in there!" He roared and Not-Hiccup backed away a little, not nearly as bothered as he should be.

"I know, I know… but hypothetically…"

"Hiccup!" He turned around to see Not-Astrid crouched down, with Snotlout behind her, glaring at him. The girl signalled for him to lay low and be quiet and so he joined her and Snotlout. Only when she rolled over with her shield with ease, followed by Snotlout, Not-Hiccup messed up. He tried to roll after them and avoid the close Nadder, but the shield pulled him back before he ended the roll and he grunted as he fell on his back, the Nadder spotting him immediately and coming after him. He yelped, got up and ran until he reached the blacksmith once again.

"Hiccup…" Stoick muttered, sounding oh-so tired. Hiccup's shoulders rose as if to protect himself. "You have to focus, son. Even if dragons aren't the monsters we thought they were," The man gave Toothless a look. "They're still dangerous and this one is coming after you. You can't just stop in the middle of training to ask Gobber questions. Understood, son?"

Oh, so the blacksmith's name was Gobber. Good to know, Toothless noted and added the name to the growing list while Hiccup mumbled a quiet, affirmative response. Astrid just looked annoyed, like she couldn't believe someone like Hiccup got into training and then messed up like that.

Standing in front of Gobber, Not-Hiccup blabbered again, ignoring the teens that ran past him, as well as the Nadder herself that chased Not-Astrid. "They probably take the daytime off, right? L-like a cat." He told Gobber and Toothless warbled mockingly. "Has-has anyone ever seen one napping?"

"Hiccup!" Gobber called for him in alarm and Toothless watched with disapproval as the walls of the maze tumbled down. When Not-Hiccup turned around he found Not-Astrid running from the top of the falling walls towards him, the Nadder chasing her.

"HICCUP!" She screamed and the boy didn't have time to react before she fell on top of him. Their limbs got all tangled up, making the hatchlings in the room flush in embarrassment and avoid eye contact. Not-Astrid's axe cut through Not-Hiccup's shield, getting stuck in the wood.

In the background, the twins watched them with devilish smirks while Not-Astrid tried to separate herself from the boy beneath her. "Let me… Why don't you… OW!" He yelled in pain when Not-Astrid finally got up, heaving. Then she noticed the Nadder coming towards them and Toothless noted the way Stoick tensed up despite knowing they were both alright after that. Not-Astrid, clearly alarmed by the dragon coming towards them, grabbed the handle of her axe and tried to unstick it, pulling with all her might and desperation while Not-Hiccup yelped and whimpered in pain, still on the ground and with the shield tied to his arm.

They all winced in the room when she put her foot on his face as leverage and finally tugged hard enough, making both the shield and the axe slide away from Not-Hiccup who rolled over to cover his head when she turned just in time to hit the Nadder in the head with the shield and the axe. The dragon ran off and Gobber quickly took her away. Not-Astrid heaved a few more times and then turned, livid, to a curled-up Not-Hiccup.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" She demanded and he finally looked up at her, his expression a mix of fear and uncertainty. Not-Astrid didn't seem to care, though. "Our parents' war is about to become ours." She pointed the axe at him, pieces of the shield still stuck to it. "Figure out which side you're on."

Opening and closing her mouth a couple of times after the wall's colours died down, Astrid looked astonished. "Sorry." She said eventually with a tiny grimace. Hiccup just blinked at her, clearly alarmed by this future. "I guess I'm not gonna warm up to you that quickly, huh?"

Hiccup licked his lips and huffed out a breathless, mirthless laugh. "No kidding."

"But hey, at least it looks like I'm the one who makes you think about what you're going to do and who to support in this war, right?"

Looking thoughtful, Hiccup looked between her, his father and Toothless. His lips finally formed a smile as he scratched Toothless's chin, making the dragon purr. "I don't think I choose a side. I just make it so there aren't any sides to choose – just dragons and humans together." He smiled when Toothless offered him his gummy smile and met Astrid's eyes again. "And it's okay – you're right. You probably brought up a good point. What do you say, bud?" He turned back to Toothless.

Warbling and snorting, Toothless smiled goofily at Astrid as well, making the girl grin. She was right, if not a bit too prone to violence. Not that Toothless wasn't violent – he was a dragon. But he tried to avoid it as much as possible and only attacked when provoked or when he felt like he had to protect something he cared about. Like, say, Hiccup. This girl used violence to communicate, she said. He didn't love it, but he didn't particularly mind either. Maybe because he wasn't the one she punched. True, he wasn't fond of the idea of someone hurting his hatchling, but the girl didn't mean any harm by this, so he wasn't going to complain. Plus, Hiccup liked her. It was none of Toothless's business.

The next thing on the magical wall intrigued Toothless because it was Not-Hiccup holding both a shield and a fish and looking anxiously around him. He was in some kind of cove in the forest, near the village. Hiccup muttered something about this probably taking place right after the last scene, which made sense in some way. Astrid challenged Hiccup to choose a side and his response was to go back to the forest and find out what the other side even was. Apparently, Toothless wasn't the only one who was curious because the humans in the room leaned forward to watch the scene as it played as well, their eyes locked on Not-Hiccup who threw the fish from his place between two rocks and waited. When nothing seemed to happen he tried to advance further only for the shield to get stuck between the rocks. He moved under it and tried to tug at it again, but it just stayed in its place, firmly refusing to get out.

With a sigh, Not-Hiccup left the shield and reached for the fish, picking it up and looking around as he moved forward in the cove, keeping an eye out for one black dragon. Not-Hiccup remained oblivious to the presence they all saw – Not-Toothless watching him from the top of a large rock, his catlike eyes following the tiny human like he was about to pounce and attack him. Astrid covered her mouth with one hand while Stoick's hands clenched into fists. The only one more intrigued than scared was Hiccup who leaned even more towards the wall, his eyes taking it all in. Toothless rumbled lightly, basking in how enthusiastic Hiccup was about their future meeting.

Eventually, finally, Not-Hiccup heard Not-Toothless as the reptile spread his wings a little and began to get off the rock towards the boy, careful himself. Not-Hiccup gasped a little and backed up, holding the fish to his chest as Not-Toothless sniffed the air, probably noticing the fish Not-Hiccup had. When the Night Fury growled at him, Not-Hiccup hesitantly held out the fish as far away from his body as possible, keeping his eyes on the dragon as he advanced, sniffing and realizing it was, in fact, food. Toothless noticed the way his pupils dilated as he got closer and calmed down a bit. He wondered how wide they were now. If Hiccup's glance down at him was anything to go by, he wanted to check that detail as well.

Unfortunately, when Not-Toothless opened his gummy mouth to let Not-Hiccup put the fish in his mouth and the boy extended his hand a little further, something frightened or angered the Night Fury because he backed away immediately and hissed at Not-Hiccup, clearly unhappy with the turns of events. Not-Hiccup seemed surprised by it and instantly pulled back as well, his eyes widening. Toothless sniffed helplessly, hoping he could tell what got to his future self like that but not manage to come up with anything. The Hiccup he was snuggling with was comfortable harmless and friendly. The chief was obviously concerned, though, because his knuckles turned white.

Apparently, Not-Hiccup was smart enough to understand the problem on his own. He moved aside the fur vest he had to reveal his small knife hanging there. Toothless grunted at that, understanding why he reacted the way he did. On the wall, Not-Hiccup reached cautiously for the weapon only to get even more afraid as Not-Toothless increased his growls, clearly scared of the weapon. Even if the one wielding it was so small and seemingly harmless – Toothless himself could make people think he was cute and rather small yet he was one of the strongest dragons out there.

Clearly against Stoick's preferences, Not-Hiccup pulled the knife out and threw it at his feet. When Not-Toothless shook his head a little, gesturing for the boy what to do, Not-Hiccup didn't need further explanation – he just picked up the knife with his foot and threw it away and into the pond in the middle of the cove. The moment the knife was gone, Not-Toothless relaxed and his pupils dilated once more. He sat down and stared at the boy with wide, interested and curious eyes.

Astrid barked out a laugh at that. "Oh… you can be scary one moment and then look so adorable the next, huh?" She said and Toothless grumbled at that, though he wasn't going to try and convince her otherwise. He did whine and send a betrayed look towards Hiccup when the boy chuckled at that as well. At least his father stopped trying to dig his fingernails into the skin of his palms, finally relaxing a little.

Once again, Not-Hiccup extended the fish towards Not-Toothless. The Night Fury crawled towards him, opening his mouth once more. And this time Not-Hiccup actually looked at it and his fear made way for confusion. "Huh. Toothless." He noted. "I could have sworn you had – " He gasped when Not-Toothless ran out of patience and snapped his teeth out, tearing the fish out of the boy's hands and swallowing it. He licked his lips once he was done and turned to look at the once more scared Not-Hiccup, his arms held close to his chest as if to protect them. "Teeth." He finished.

"Huh… déjà vu." Hiccup mumbled.

For a moment they just stood there and then Not-Toothless began to croon at Not-Hiccup, walking towards him while the boy panicked and stumbled back, eventually losing his balance and just dragging himself away from the Night Fury until his back hit a rock. "Uh, no, no. No. I-I don't have any more!" He tried to say and Not-Toothless observed him for a moment before Toothless noticed he was regurgitating his food. Hmm… yeah, he would have probably wanted to share the meal with the boy who gave it to him, especially if he didn't have any for himself. Right? Apparently, Not-Hiccup thought something bad was going to happen because he pressed himself harder to the stone and only groaned a little when half a fish landed in his lap.

In the room, Stoick's face turned a little green at the sight, his fear replaced with sickness. Astrid's hand was still covering her mouth, though now she looked like she was trying to keep herself from throwing up, her eyes dancing from Not-Hiccup to the fish and to the real Hiccup, like she couldn't believe this happened to him. Or… will happen to him? Hiccup himself stared in disgust at the scene, his body shuddering. He looked at Toothless with wide, not understanding eyes and the dragon just warbled softly, trying to make him understand it was meant to be a show of gratitude. Hiccup grimaced but still tried to smile. So it was okay, Toothless concluded.

Done with the regurgitation, Not-Toothless backed down and sat on his hind legs, waiting. Not-Hiccup stared at him for a moment without moving and then pulled himself back into a normal sitting position, clearly not sure about what to do now. Nothing happened for a while there as they both just stared but just when Not-Hiccup seemed to relax a little once more, Not-Toothless moved his eyes meaningfully from the fish to the boy again. Not-Hiccup repeated the action, his face filling with horror. Eventually, to the Vikings' discomfort and disgust and Toothless's delight, he cringed and brought the fish to his mouth, stalling for as long as possible before finally taking a bite.

"Ew!" Astrid commented, her face revealing the horror she felt. Stoick's face was twisted, like he was trying very hard not to puke and Hiccup himself stared at the future with wide, fearful eyes. "Hiccup, you're gonna – "

"Oh, p-please, you… you really don't have to say it out loud, you know?" The boy mumbled. "It's bad enough to think I'm going to-to actually do it pretty soon." He gave Toothless a scolding look. "Please don't ever make me do it again after that." He said and Toothless nudged his stomach with his head, crooning. Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, I know you meant well, bud. Thanks. But… to us, it's pretty disgusting, okay?"

Note to self – humans don't like raw fish that come from a dragon's belly. Who knew?

On the wall, Not-Hiccup didn't swallow the fish and instead let it stay in his mouth as he looked hopefully at Not-Toothless. "Mhm-mm!" He hummed in fake delight and held the fish up for Not-Toothless. Not-Toothless perked up for a moment before he motioned for the boy to swallow. Displeased and clearly devastated to find out that it wasn't enough, Not-Hiccup's face fell and he rolled his eyes to the sky as if asking for help from the Gods. But then he swallowed. Well… for a moment there he was going to throw up and his hand flew to his mouth, but eventually, he did it and shook his head, making disgusted noises. When Not-Toothless slipped his tongue out of his mouth for a moment, Not-Hiccup offered him a smile.

Watching the gesture intently, Not-Toothless narrowed his eyes for a moment, just observing, and then he began to pull his lips back the same way Toothless did already, revealing his gummy smile. If that's what it looked like, no wonder Astrid and Hiccup thought it was cute. Clearly amazed by the action, Not-Hiccup tried to get up, putting the fish on the ground. He held out his hand to try and touch the Night Fury but Not-Toothless watched the approaching hand and his smile slipped until his teeth came out and he growled at Not-Hiccup before barely flying out of there and to the other side of the cove where he burned the ground before lying down.

The chirp of birds alerted him to the flying creatures and Toothless himself felt like he was envious of them – he couldn't fly right now. And neither could this version of him from the future. But then he looked sideways and noticed Not-Hiccup sitting there, smiling and waving at him. Annoyed, Not-Toothless brought his one tailfin to his face, to hide the human from his sight… only for him to move it away at the feeling of someone nearly touching him. Toothless sent an unimpressed to Hiccup who shrugged, clearly not bothered too much by his actions in the future. Not-Toothless noticed Not-Hiccup reaching out to touch his tail and moved it quickly to reveal that the boy was, in fact, doing so. Getting caught, Not-Hiccup quickly got up and walked away. Agitated and tired, Not-Toothless eyed him before moving over to hang upside down from a tree in order to sleep.

"Wait, you're both like a cat and a bat?" Hiccup asked and Toothless snorted at him, not liking the way he was compared to those two animals. "Oh, come on – you know I'm right. Don't whine, bud." He smirked and swatted at Not-Toothless when the dragon pawed at his face playfully. Hiccup's laughter and Toothless's warbles and rumbles made Stoick and Astrid look at them with fond looks on their faces until Hiccup realized they had an audience. He stopped immediately and Toothless made him stumble back until his body was sprawled on the floor. "Ugh, cheater." Hiccup mumbled and sat back up, pouting at Toothless. The dragon just smiled.

The scene on the wall changed only in colours, showing Not-Toothless waking up around twilight. He sniffed the air for a moment and then noticed Not-Hiccup was still there so, intrigued, he approached him. Astrid and Stoick hummed in appreciation at the sight of Not-Hiccup drawing with a stick in the dirt. Toothless watched in fascination as the drawing ended up looking like him. Noticing the dragon was right behind him, Not-Hiccup tensed a little, clearly not wanting to scare him away.

He didn't have to. Even Toothless knew what he would wanna do in such a scenario. So he wasn't surprised when Not-Toothless walked away (on two legs, mind you. Astrid cooed at it a little and Hiccup just hummed with a smile) for a moment before bringing back an entire tree with him to draw. Not-Hiccup watched with his mouth agape, clearly not expecting that from the dragon, and his shock melted into a smile the longer Not-Toothless danced around him with the tree, drawing in the ground. He did accidentally hit Not-Hiccup with the top of the tree once, making the boy wince and crouch a little, but all in all, he got out of it without a scratch, so Toothless decided it was okay.

Once he was done, Not-Toothless let go of the tree and watched from outside the drawing – well, it didn't really have a shape, but it was better than anything he's ever done before – as Not-Hiccup got up and looked around, his interest and curiosity showing in every movement he made. He began to walk before Not-Toothless growled at him in anger. Not-Hiccup flinched and looked over to the dragon before lifting his foot, realizing he stepped on one of the lines. When the Night Fury relaxed at that, Not-Hiccup surprised Toothless by stepping on the line. Again. Toothless swatted his head again with his tail but Hiccup just shrugged. All in all, Not-Hiccup stepped on the line three times before he finally moved over it. When Not-Toothless just kept on cooing at him, Not-Hiccup smiled and danced around the drawing, his arms held high as he looked at the ground and at his feet and weaved his way carefully.

He ended up out of the drawing and with his back nearly touching Not-Toothless who snorted and huffed at him, watching and yet not budging. Not-Hiccup first shifted away before his eyes grew with wonder and he tried to reach out for Not-Toothless again. The dragon narrowed his eyes and huffed and then growled lowly when Not-Hiccup didn't stop. Pulling his hand back and looking a bit confused, Not-Hiccup watched as Not-Toothless relaxed again, still watching him. He looked down thoughtfully for a second and then lowered his head, pointing it away from Not-Toothless, and extended his hand blindly in the dragon's direction. This time Not-Toothless didn't growl and only watched as the boy's hand stopped before him, waiting.

Stoick and Astrid were leaning towards the wall so much, they looked like they were going to fall on their faces. Their eyes were wide at how the bond between Toothless and Hiccup was created and they wanted to see what Not-Toothless would do. Hiccup, on his part, looked at Toothless – present Toothless – with a weird look in his eyes.

"It's about trust, isn't it?" He asked quietly. When Not-Toothless purred in agreement, he smiled. "Well, I trust you." He said simply and Toothless nudged him as if to show he returned the sentiment. "Haha, thanks, bud." And they both turned to look at the wall Not-Toothless hesitated before finally pressing his snout against Not-Hiccup's hand, both their eyes closed. Not-Hiccup flinched at first before he slowly turned over to the dragon a moment before Not-Toothless opened his own eyes. The Night Fury gave him a look, snorted and bolted. Not-Hiccup was left standing in the same spot, looking absolutely amazed until the wall turned black, ending the scene.

Astrid nodded to herself, looking satisfied. "Alright, I admit it – it's pretty cool. It's… amazing." She looked over at Toothless and Hiccup, her eyes finally glinting with the spark Toothless's been waiting for – the one of complete understanding, as she ran out of reasons for why Toothless and other dragons could still be a problem. She now had this aura around her, like she truly accepted the future and what it had in store for her and the others. "He's amazing."

She held her hand out hesitantly towards Toothless who crooned and nudged it lightly before snorting happily and turning back to his future rider. Hiccup's face melted into a soft grin as well, like he couldn't agree more. He looked first at Astrid, with this kind of thankful look, like he was grateful for her support. And then he moved on to give Toothless a wider grin, his eyes crinkled. "Yeah, I know."

When the next scene began they all recoiled at the loud cheer coming from Not-Hiccup. He was sitting on top of Not-Toothless, grinning widely. Next to him were Fishlegs and his Gronckle, smiling as well, though not as amazed and happy as Not-Hiccup. And behind the duo of dragon and his rider were Not-Astrid and her Deadly Nadder, smiling a little as well.

"Haha! Did you hear what he said? 'Perfect'." He sounded almost… smug. And Toothless had no idea why. He could tell the others had no clue either because they sent Hiccup confused and slightly encouraging expressions like they were beyond confused and yet found it amusing and pretty good that Not-Hiccup seemed to be in a good mood. Toothless was more focused on the look on Not-Toothless's face. If his rider was smug, then Not-Toothless looked completely elated, almost too proud of something. "I-I believe those are my first Thawfest points ever."

When Toothless crooned questioningly, Hiccup shrugged. "The Thawfest Games. It's a competition between all of the teens. Snotlout wins every year but…" He grinned at the wall, finally beginning to understand if Toothless was correct. "If we use dragons in the future Thawfest competition then… maybe we can actually win, bud!"

"Congratulations, Hiccup." Astrid shook her head, looking almost like she wanted to laugh from the reaction Not-Hiccup had to get his first point in this… Thawfest thing.

His father nodded his head and clapped Hiccup on the back. "I'm proud of you, son. I'm sure you'll do great." He said and Toothless turned his head upwards to try and see how happy Hiccup was. Strangely, what he found was almost a little too smug, like Hiccup was enjoying this one win far too much. A little taken aback, Toothless warbled worriedly at the wall and kept on watching.

"I just realized something," Not-Hiccup went on and Fishlegs' and Not-Astrid's grins turned a little worried as well, like they weren't used to dealing with the boy when he was like this. "I like beating Snotlout! I feel taller. Am I taller? Never mind, don't answer that." At that, Not-Astrid actually scowled and the present Astrid punched Hiccup's arm, making him wince and gape at her in confusion.

"Don't turn into a jerk, muttonhead." She scolded him lightly and he grimaced in her direction, opening his mouth to reply, only to shut it back up. His eyes drifted towards the wall and his brows pinched in concern. Toothless could almost hear his thoughts racing, trying to figure out whether he was going too far with all of this in the future. When his face fell a little, the Night Fury knew he had come to the right conclusion.

Behind Not-Hiccup's back, Fishlegs leaned a little towards Not-Astrid. "Is he… gloating?"

The girl shrugged, a frown on her face. "I'm not sure. I've never actually seen Hiccup gloat." She didn't sound too impressed and Hiccup shrank at the words from the magical wall, his shoulders sagging. Yup, he was gloating and he didn't seem to enjoy watching it.

"Don't get too excited." Snotlout and Hookfang landed on the other side of Not-Hiccup, scowling. "You know what this is?" He lifted one finger and showed it to the smug boy. "Still the number of wins I need to end this thing." He smirked now and Toothless growled. Sure, Hiccup gloating was weird and a little disturbing, but this other hatchling… Snotlout… he was annoying! Raising two fingers, Snotlout went on. "And you know what this is? The number of chances I have."

To everyone's surprise and dismay – and in Hiccup's case, embarrassment – Not-Hiccup lifted his own hand and created a small circle with his index finger and thumb. "Oh, yeah? Well, you know what this is? The size of your brain. No, wait," He hummed to himself as he made the circle even smaller. "That's much better."

"Oh, someone please, kill me now." Hiccup whined and covered his face with his hands. Astrid's annoyance softened a little at the regret his body seemed to emit and she sighed and shook her head a little, as if trying to make herself understand this wasn't Hiccup's fault. Especially not the one with her. Besides, they saw Hiccup later on – he was fine, not smug. Sure, crazy and insane, but not smug.

Grumbling, Snotlout's smirk slipped away. "Like you've ever seen my brain." He turned his head forward. "Come on, Hookfang." And they both flew out of there, Not-Hiccup watching their distancing backs with his grin still in place.

For a moment nothing happened and then Not-Hiccup noticed Not-Astrid staring at him with her eyes squinted, shaking her head and rolling her shoulders as if asking what was wrong with him. "What? He started it!" He complained and then looked away from her and his eyes fell down. "…When we were five." Sadly, and to Hiccup's agonized groan, when the scene flickered, it showed Not-Hiccup standing behind Snotlout who was staring up at a wall with the teens' heads painted on it. Next to Snotlout's head were three blue stripes while next to Not-Hiccup's one were two. Snotlout looked almost worried at the sight of it. "Wow, Snotlout. Your dad looks really mad right now." Not-Hiccup said tauntingly.

Snotlout turned to him, glaring. Yet there was something hesitant in the expression as he observed the teen before him. He looked up and they all noticed the way a Viking that looked a lot like Snotlout shook his head at him with a scowl on his face. Snotlout looked away, his head hung lower than before. "What do you know?" He snapped at Not-Hiccup. "He always looks like that!" Toothless didn't like this boy very much but he decided him mocking others was better than Hiccup doing it. "Do you really think you have any shot at beating me?" He laughed teasingly.

Not-Hiccup put his hand on his hip and the other one flew to his chin as he considered the question. "As a matter of fact, I do have a shot at beating you." He replied with this horrible grin on his face. Toothless shook his head and snorted a little in dismay. Hiccup didn't even try to soothe him, too distressed himself.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too!" Not-Hiccup said triumphantly. He waved his arm around with his excitement. "Think about it! Toothless is a Night Fury. And I'm the best rider." He said, pointing at his chest with a proud little smile on his face.

Toothless didn't have a doubt about how true that statement was, but he didn't like the way Not-Hiccup boasted about it. Toothless was entitled to gloat and boast because he was the best and everyone knew it. And he didn't do it too often, knowing it wasn't really the point. Plus, he didn't feel like it was necessary seeing as everyone else was aware of that fact and didn't need the constant reminder that Toothless was the best. And it helped when others didn't expect much from a small dragon only to be proven wrong later on. Toothless was just glad he could do the things he did. Hiccup was like him, he knew it, even in that aspect. It's just that… Hiccup said Snotlout always won and this time the boy had his chance of beating him – he was tasting victory for the first time and it went to his head. Hiccup whimpered.

"How can I possibly lose?"

Snotlout didn't even hesitate with his answer, though he sounded more desperate than angry. "'Cause that's what you do! I win, you lose!"

Pointing to the wall with the drawings, Not-Hiccup stared back at Snotlout, his eyes wide. "Yeah, well, check the scoreboard, Snotlout. Not anymore." He stated and then leaned back, watching happily as Snotlout turned, actually looked at the marks on the wall, and then grumbled under his breath in fury while walking away.

They could still hear Snotlout's voice getting further and further away when Not-Astrid showed up again, looking just as irritated as the Astrid in the room. "What was that all about?"

"Just rattling cages," Not-Hiccup replied nonchalantly and walked away.

The girl watched him with concern. "Since when do you rattle cages?" She asked, though he was too far away to hear her and she just stood there, looking down.

"I mean…" Hiccup muttered quietly, gaining his father's and Astrid's attention. He shied away from their disturbed and annoyed gazes and leaned into Toothless. Unlike them, despite Hiccup's poor choices in the future, Toothless wasn't just going to let him down. He was going to be there to support him even through those moments of poor judgment. Even now. "It can't get much worse, right?"

Wrong. The scene flickered to show Not-Hiccup and Snotlout standing on a platform in the Kill Ring, smiling and waving at the crowd of Vikings cheering outside. "I can't believe how lucky you are," Snotlout said to Not-Hiccup, still smiling at the crowd and not giving the boy a single glance. "You don't even belong on the stage with me."

Not-Hiccup waved with his own disturbing smile as Snotlout moved past him to get off the platform. Not-Hiccup soon followed while talking. "That's it. Keep talking, Snotlout, as your family's winning streak goes up in smoke," He finally stopped waving and stopped next to a scowling Not-Astrid who had her arms crossed over her chest. "Just like your rings of deadly fire." Snotlout turned to him, pointing, but then walked away once more, grumbling to himself incoherent words and kicking a bucket out of his way. "Hey, what's the matter?" Not-Hiccup called after him. "Yak got your tongue?"

"Son…" Stoick said, a little uncertain. "You're starting to concern me."

Hiccup groaned and tugged at his hair. "Trust me, no one's more concerned, disturbed or ashamed than I am right now." He said and then sighed and turned to Astrid. "Please tell me you're gonna talk some sense into me."

She gave him a deadly glare. "Or, better yet, I'll just punch some sense into you." She raised her fist as if showing she was ready to do so right now, even though Hiccup hadn't done anything as of yet. Toothless huffed at her, not too concerned and yet not wanting her to believe she could hurt his human without him doing anything about it. Astrid just rolled her eyes before lowering her hand and turning back to the wall.

"Hiccup," Not-Astrid said.

Not-Hiccup's grin widened even more. "Oh, he's crumbling under the pressure." He said smugly, waving his hands too much. Toothless would have laughed had the scene been a little less… worrying. "I can feel it." Not-Hiccup almost looked… evil. Especially with this expression on his face. When his gaze finally fell on Not-Astrid as she shook her head at him, his grin made a place for annoyed confusion. "What?" He demanded.

Her scowl was replaced with disappointment. "You know what I always liked about you, Hiccup?" She asked and in the room, Astrid made some kind of choking noise, looking around with wide, deer-caught-in-the-headlight eyes. Hiccup himself finally gave the wall his whole attention. Toothless snorted. "You were always a gracious loser. Who knew you'd be such a lousy winner?" And she walked away, leaving behind a frowning Not-Hiccup. He looked like he wasn't sure what to think about that.

They barely had any time to try and comprehend this part before the scene changed again, showing Not-Hiccup watching from beside Not-Toothless as Snotlout and his father talked next to Hookfang.

"Snotlout!" The father shouted and Snotlout quickly turned to him, muttering something about stretching. When the older Viking talked again, his voice was almost sweet. It sent shivers down Toothless's spine. "Did you ever hear the story of when I almost lost the Thawfest Games?" He asked and when Snotlout innocently replied with a negative answer, clearly waiting to hear it for the first time, the Viking turned angry again. "That's right. Because it never happened!" He shouted in his son's face. "No Jorgenson has ever even come close to losing the Thawfest Games." He advanced on Snotlout until he was right in his face and stuck his finger to the hatchling's chest. "Don't you be the first?"

When he walked away from an ashamed Snotlout, Not-Hiccup gave Not-Toothless a concerned look. It quickly changed to show Not-Hiccup smirking once more at Snotlout from on top of Not-Toothless. The two hatchlings were flying on their dragons, clearly racing each other, and Not-Hiccup was winning. He looked back at Snotlout smugly but the grin was wiped away when he saw Snotlout.

"No…" The boy muttered quietly from on top of Hookfang, looking lost as he stared ahead with vacant eyes. "I can't lose. I can't lose…" He sighed and shook his head a little. "I can't lose."

Not-Hiccup looked away, horrified. "What am I doing?" He asked himself and then hesitated, looking around like he was considering all of his options. Astrid, Stoick and Hiccup all leaned in to see what he would choose. Not-Hiccup's expression fell. "I'm sorry, Dad…" He muttered and then moved his peg leg so that Not-Toothless's tail closed a little, making the dragon stumble in the air. Snotlout raced past him and the Night Fury and his rider hit a rock pillar, Not-Toothless moaning in pain. The crowd of Vikings watching gasped in worry and surprise when Not-Toothless and Not-Hiccup landed unsteadily in a clearing. The only one smiling was Not-Astrid.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Why not? Thanks for the undying support." Hiccup rolled his eyes but when Astrid socked him in the shoulder he gave her a hesitant smile, his eyes glinting with how relieved he was. Toothless purred, proud of future Hiccup's decision. Even if they could probably do it without crashing into things like that. For the pain Toothless would surely have to endure, the Night Fury whipped his tail and smacked Hiccup's head lightly. The boy grunted and frowned at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was 'Hit-Hiccup' day. Please, do your best." He spread his arms to the side as if inviting them to actually do it.

Stoick looked at him with shining eyes. "Son, I will be proud of you whether you win or not. You know that, right?" He waited for Hiccup to nod before his shoulders relaxed, probably feeling guilty for (again, Toothless assumed) pressuring Hiccup to win since he began taking part in the Thawfest event. But Hiccup didn't seem to mind too much. It was his own choice to brag about winning like that, Toothless knew. And he knew that Hiccup was aware of that as well.

When the scene flickered again, Toothless scratched at his ears when they all heard Snotlout and his father chanting, "Snotlout, Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" like maniacs. Not-Hiccup got off the platform with a little content smile, a spring in his steps, watching them. But the moment he reached the ground he was punched in the shoulder by Not-Astrid, yelping in surprise and hurt. She smirked at him while he scowled and rubbed his shoulder.

"Huh… I guess I have plenty of pain to expect from you in the future, then." Hiccup winced. Astrid offered him a pleased grin in return.

"OW! What?!"

Not-Astrid didn't back away when Not-Hiccup snapped at her, looking affronted. "I know what you did."

The scowl slipped away, making room for his regular deadpan expression. "Yeah. I lost. As usual." He looked down. Toothless crooned softly at Hiccup. He could tell it pained Not-Hiccup to lose again when he could actually win for once. But he also knew the boy did the right thing, and Hiccup – present and future – was aware of that. Not-Hiccup glanced up at Not-Astrid as if trying to see what her reaction to this would be.

"No." The girl said proudly. "You threw the race."

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about, Astrid." He stuttered, looking between her and the floor like he couldn't decide which one was more interesting. Toothless rolled his eyes at that. It was one thing for the rider to lose on purpose and another thing to pretend like he didn't intend for this to happen when confronted by someone who knew for sure what the reason behind everything was. Toothless wasn't surprised, though. And Hiccup didn't look like he was surprised, either. "Snotlout was just the better Viking today"

She shook her head at him. "No, Hiccup. No one was a better Viking than you, today." Not-Astrid said confidently and Astrid sighed and groaned at her future self, clearly uncomfortable with seeing herself give such compliments to Hiccup. Hiccup, who by the way, had this lovestruck smile on his face. Toothless smacked him in the head again, chortling and warbling at Hiccup's awkward and nervous expression at being caught.

Before neither of the teens could do so much as blink, Not-Astrid pulled Not-Hiccup forward and kissed him for a second before smiling and walking off, leaving behind a blushing and flustered Not-Hiccup, though Toothless expected his reaction to being kissed by the girl to be a little more… caught off guard. Stoick barked out a laugh at the scene while the teens gaped at the wall in terror and a bit of curiosity. When their eyes met for a moment, they both turned red and looked away.

"Well, one thing I can tell for sure – that wasn't your first kiss," Stoick said and Toothless chortled again when Hiccup tried to bury himself under his wing. Astrid looked like she was going to murder someone. "I can guarantee that your first time would have looked a lot less calm and a lot more awkward."

"Thanks, Dad." Hiccup said quickly, voice breaking. "You-you can stop talking now." He added dryly and Astrid seemed to agree with him, even if she didn't look his way. Or in anyone's way, really. She was too busy glaring at the wall as if it offended her specifically and personally. Toothless guessed it did, in a way. And unlike Hiccup, who tried to hide from the problem and avoid it, Astrid's reaction was to, probably, try and silence the problem by force. Sadly, it was some sort of magic that powered the wall – something they didn't understand – so all she could do was give it her best death glare, which was something, alright.