The wall slowly received new colours again, creating a new image. This time they could all see Not-Hiccup yawning, his leg missing, like in the last clip, and walking tiredly out of his house. He had a helmet on his head and snow covered most of the ground around him. A rumble from above made the boy look up and see Not-Toothless standing on the roof, watching him with enthusiasm.
"Good morning, Mr. Bossy." Not-Hiccup greeted and Not-Toothless chortled at him. Without missing a bit, Not-Hiccup mimicked the noise and made Hiccup's cheeks flare up at the snickers of his father and… future mate. Not-Toothless looked like he enjoyed the hatchling messing around like that and began to climb down towards him. "Do you always have to wake me up so early to go flying…!" Not-Hiccup's metal leg slid on the ice, nearly making him trip. Luckily, the Night Fury caught him just in time and shoved him back to safety. "Stupid leg," Not-Hiccup grumbled and kicked it uselessly. Though he smiled when Not-Toothless warbled at him. "Uh, thanks, buddy. I'm okay. Yeah, we-we can go flying now. Ew-ew! What?!" Not-Hiccup stumbled back when Not-Toothless gurgled at him, looking way too happy with whatever he breathed at the human that probably smelled it and thought it was terrible. "Ew… ugh! Toothless!" He scolded with a smile when the dragon nuzzled into him.
The scene flickered to show the two of them flying in the sky. Not-Hiccup wasn't leaning in like he did in the further future and Toothless could tell they weren't going as fast as they'd seen them go before, but it was still just as fast as Toothless was used to going and more with both his tailfins intact and with no Viking hatchling on his back.
"Come on, let's see what you got today." Not-Hiccup urged on and then whooped excitedly when Not-Toothless tucked his wings to his sides and they both hurled down towards the faraway sea, speeding up. Stoick looked like he was worried sick just watching this despite knowing how good of a rider his son was, which kind of made Toothless feel like Hiccup should be insulted by this. But Hiccup was too busy staring at the wall with enthusiasm and excitement, looking like he couldn't wait to live in this future already and go flying with Toothless. Toothless couldn't blame him – flying was incredible. The rush it gave you… Even Astrid looked like this appealed to her, though she also looked a little worried at the way they both free-fell from the sky like that.
Ugh, humans.
Eventually, in the last moment, Not-Toothless spread his wings and they began to glide over the blue ocean. "YEAH! Okay, you ready?" Not-Hiccup asked and, unlike the last time Not-Hiccup asked that, in the further future, Not-Toothless snorted, looking just as on board as his rider. Though he did warble a bit in concern when Not-Hiccup did something with his tail and got up, standing up on his back. They were heading towards a rock formation. "Easy…" And Not-Hiccup got ready before jumping off Not-Toothless' back. He moved over the rock formation while Not-Toothless moved underneath it, and landed back on the dragon's back, quickly putting his metal leg back in the pedal controlling the tailfin. "Yes. Finally!"
Stoick did NOT look impressed. "Finally?" He asked and gave Hiccup a serious stare. The boy chuckled uneasily and pulled up one of Toothless' wings until it hid most of him from sight. His father just rolled his eyes in frustration and, Toothless noted, fondness, and then turned back ahead.
It flickered to show Not-Toothless and Not-Hiccup still in the sky, muttering something about trying again. But then they both noticed a hoard of dragons headed their way, flying in their path. Not-Hiccup yelped and ducked while Not-Toothless tried to avoid colliding with the other dragons. One of the dragons flicked Not-Hiccup's helmet off his head and Not-Toothless looked down before diving towards it as it fell towards the sea. To Not-Toothless' surprise, Not-Hiccup made him stop and fly away to try and figure out what was going on, telling him they'd come back for it later. Toothless didn't understand why they couldn't catch the helmet and THEN figure out why all of the dragons were flying in one direction like that but decided to just grumble unhappily and watch the future without disturbance.
"That was depressing." A downcast female twin said once the scene changed again, showing all six of the teens walking between the houses of Berk at night. They all looked down except for Fishlegs, who kept on whistling to himself, eyeing the sky nonchalantly.
"I know." Not-Astrid agreed. "I was looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly."
Toothless perked up. Stormfly – the Deadly Nadder, he assumed. This had to be related to all of the dragons leaving, after all, and if they all left, then it included the blue Nadder. Stormfly. Chirping happily at the new information, Hiccup sent Toothless a confused yet fond look and scratched his scales lightly, making him purr.
The male twin rolled his eyes and then noticed how cheerful Fishlegs was. He frowned at the boy. "What are you so happy about?" He asked as the boy stopped whistling, though he was still smiling contently to himself, looking at the ground. "Don't you miss Meatlug?"
"Me?" Fishlegs's eyes widened and he froze for a moment before turning to the others, putting on an entire show. "Oh, yeah." He coughed and then pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. "I miss him so much!" Toothless cocked his head to the side. The Gronckle was a girl. Stupid Viking hatchling. When the rest of the teens kept on gaping at Fishlegs he tried to hide his expression from them and then just began to walk away. "Well, good night!"
They were all still confused by Fishlegs' behaviour when Not-Astrid gasped and stepped up before them. "I've got an idea! Let's come up with a bunch of new holiday traditions!" She suggested cheerfully and the teens looked at her, unimpressed. She didn't seem to notice. "You know, to bury the sadness."
Snotlout and the twins groaned and sighed, not jumping at the girl's idea. So Not-Astrid sent Not-Hiccup a glare that he widened his eyes at. Astrid rolled her eyes. "You're terrible and supporting others, huh?" She sent Hiccup a disapproving look.
"Hey, I'm not used to having friends, remember?" He defended himself fiercely, raising his arms in surrender. "Besides, why would they listen to me?" He gave the wall a strange look like he thought Astrid turning to him for the support of all people was a joke. Nothing serious. Toothless didn't get it – why wouldn't she turn to him? Hiccup was smarter than those meatheads. He was the heir of Berk, as well. He was a leader, wasn't he? And in the future, the teens looked like they were supporting him completely, saying he was the Dragon Master or Dragon Conqueror. They were some kind of group and he was obviously their leader.
Forcing on a smile, Not-Hiccup jumped in. "Actually, Astrid might be onto something." He said encouragingly and the girl nodded at him a little before the male twin frowned at him.
"Easy for you to say." He gestured with his hand to a cliff not too far away where Not-Toothless was, looking over the edge and crooning into the night. Suddenly Toothless knew what was going on and where the dragons were. Ugh, he wished he could just tell the Vikings but they didn't understand! So instead, he just nuzzled Hiccup's side until the boy seemed to relax a little. "Your dragon can't go anywhere without you."
"Must be nice." The other twin said and they walked past Not-Hiccup when the boy kept on staring at the dragon, his expression changing from a sad one to a determined one.
When the scene changed they all flinched back at Not-Astrid's cheerful, LOUD voice. "Yak-nog! Get your yak-nog!" She called out, in her hands there was a shield supporting a jug filled to the brim with some kind of liquid and two or three glasses. Astrid perked up. "Come on, get a frothy, delicious cup of cheer!" Her eyes lit up when she saw Snotlout and the twins walking ahead of her. "Hey, you guys, try this tasty new beverage I made for the holiday."
They all came closer to see what she was holding and the twins grimaced at it, still downcast. Hiccup sighed and Astrid narrowed her eyes at their reactions to the drink. They haven't even tried it yet!
"What's that smell?" The male twin asked and waved his hand around before smacking and shoving his sister in the face. "Is that you?" He asked her and then Not-Astrid poured a glass in front of him, making him make disgusted noises that seemed to irk Astrid in the room as she watched. Subtly, Hiccup scooted a little further away from her, Toothless not even blaming him. "If I drink that I'm gonna yak nog all over the place."
Still smiling, though now by force, Not-Astrid ignored the other twin who stopped next to her, fixed her helmet and sniffed with a disgusted look on her face. "Maybe you'd like to taste a punch in the face?" Not-Astrid offered and her grin slipped to show her irritation.
"Astrid, it sounds delightful." Snotlout stepped up after saying that in a deeper voice than he's used before. Astrid groaned and facepalmed, yet had a little smirk on her face, clearly glad to know someone was going to roll with her and try the yak nog, even if it was someone who was only trying to flirt with her against her will. "I'd love a mug."
Snotlout grabbed a glass and drank it while Not-Astrid turned to smirk smugly in the twins' direction. Toothless chortled when Snotlout's face fell at the taste of the drink. He eyed the mug with disdain and then swallowed painfully under the girl's watchful eyes, putting the mug back in its place and grimacing. "You can really taste the yak."
Hiccup's eyes widened and he chuckled a little, avoiding the seething glare Astrid was sending towards him. Even Stoick had a little smile on his face like he couldn't help but be amused by the boy's reaction and how oblivious Not-Astrid was to it.
As if to make them laugh even more, Fishlegs approached them running as well, looking at the shield and the drink with wide, excited eyes. "Ooh, yum! What is that?"
"Oh, you wanna try some?" Not-Astrid turned to him, happy to have someone else on her side. Behind her, Snotlout looked at Fishlegs with distress. "It's my new traditional drink."
Fishlegs already had one hand reaching for a mug when he noticed the way Snotlout shook his head over Not-Astrid's shoulder, sending Hiccup and Toothless into another wave of laughter that gained them equal glares from an irritated Astrid. On the wall, Fishlegs backed down immediately. "Oh, you know, um… I have suddenly and, uh, inexplicably changed my mind!" He said nervously.
This time Not-Astrid didn't look that upset, probably actually believing this lie. She turned her back to the teens and began to walk away. "Well, you don't know what you're missing." She completely ignored the way Snotlout was holding his stomach, heaving and shaking a little like he was crying. The twins stood by his sides, though, looking absolutely delighted at the sight of him suffering like this. Hiccup kept on snickering. "I bet Hiccup will love this."
He stopped laughing at once and winced. Toothless kept on chortling, this time joined by Stoick. But Astrid didn't seem to mind because her smirk landed on Hiccup and he cowered away from it, clearly afraid to see what his reaction would be to her new drink.
"Hiccup?" Not-Astrid called when she entered a building.
"Yeah, I'm over here, Astrid. Coming." He called back and walked to her with a smile. They stopped in front of a desk and Not-Hiccup smiled at her innocently. Oh, the poor hatchling had no idea what he was getting himself into this time.
Presenting the shield and the drink, Not-Astrid beamed at the boy who leaned down to work on… Toothless squinted his eyes. It looked like the fake tailfin. But Not-Toothless already had one here, so why would he build another one? Just for the sake of it? Did they miss something important? Probably… it was the future and Hiccup was missing a leg. That seemed kind of important.
"Here. Happy holidays. From me to you."
Not-Hiccup moved away from the desk for a moment to grab a mug. "Thank you, milady." He said and Hiccup's face flushed when Astrid cocked an eyebrow at him. When he just shrugged, she rolled her eyes and turned back to face the scene. It's not like it was the first time they'd heard him calling her that – he already used this nickname in the future, after all. Astrid leaned forward in anticipation when Not-Hiccup held the mug close to his lips, ready to drink, only to back away in frustration when Not-Astrid asked him what he was doing, making him talk instead. "Okay, you're gonna think I'm crazy,"
Astrid huffed. "I think that's already established at this point."
Not-Hiccup put the mug on the table and looked at Not-Astrid's smiling face. "But I just couldn't stop thinking about what Tuffnut said last night." Toothless crooned questioningly and Hiccup blinked at him in confusion before he smacked his forehead and explained to him quickly that the names of the twins were Ruffnut (the girl – how could he forget?!) and Tuffnut (the boy). Finally, Toothless knew all of their names! "Toothless can't come and go like the other dragons, and that's just… not… fair." He shrugged and looked down at the new invention, looking guilty. Toothless curled around Hiccup to let him know he didn't mind. Not-Hiccup went on. "I was up all night and I think I found a way to fix that." He said and messed around with the tailfin.
Then, to Toothless' amusement and Astrid's satisfaction, Not-Hiccup finally took a large sip from the drink. His eyes bulged out and he refused to swallow, almost sounding like he was going to choke. Not-Astrid was too engrossed in the new tail to notice, though.
"No way! You built him a new tail?" Not-Astrid said, amazed, while Not-Hiccup was busy pushing the mug from his mouth and eyeing the drink inside with worry. He still didn't swallow. "So he's gonna be able to fly without you." She didn't look away from the tailfin when Not-Hiccup answered with a high-pitched hum, looking into the mug again, his brows raised. "Wow. What a great gift." He offered her a small hummed laugh and put the mug as far away from him as possible. "What if he never comes back?" She asked innocently and Toothless watched as Not-Hiccup turned sharply to look at her, his cheeks still puffed from the beverage he held in his mouth. His eyes were no longer cheerful, but sad. "What am I saying? Of course, he will. Well, I'm gonna spread some more holiday cheer. You're amazing!" She called over her shoulder as she ran away and Not-Hiccup waved at her.
The moment she was gone he opened his mouth and spat the drink out and to the ground. Astrid groaned and rubbed her eyes while Hiccup snickered nervously, glancing at her with worry, as if afraid she might attack him in a room that didn't allow violence. Well, aggressive violence, at least. Friendly punches were all right, apparently. Strange room. But instead of getting upset, Astrid just sighed and muttered something about him at least pretending to like it. For a moment Not-Hiccup stared at the tailfin, hesitation lacing his features, and then he closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and eyed it determinedly.
Toothless wasn't worried, though. He knew he wouldn't leave Hiccup like that. Both because they saw they were together in the future, and with a tailfin that Hiccup needed to control, as well. So Toothless stayed. And… maybe the invention didn't even work? Whatever, Toothless was confident he would stay with his rider.
So when the scene changed again to show Not-Toothless pawing at the roof, probably to make Not-Hiccup come out, Toothless sat there, curled around his future rider nonchalantly, while everyone else was tense. "Toothless!" Not-Hiccup, as they all knew, was out of the house already and walked towards an excited Night Fury with the new tailfin in his hands. "Come on down, bud. I've got something for you." He let the dragon sniff it a few times and smiled. "What do you think of that? Yeah." Then he tried to get to the dragon's tail only for Not-Toothless to circle around the boy, making it impossible for Not-Hiccup to put the tail on. "Would you just settle down?" He crouched down when the dragon calmed down and eyed him from over his shoulder and wing. "Toothless, come on, bud. Let me get this on you. Yeah… you are going to love this."
It didn't look like he loved it. The moment Not-Hiccup backed away for his dragon to try it, Not-Toothless growled and roared at the tailfin in dismay, flinging it this way and that as his entire body moved around, nearly hitting Not-Hiccup as he went. Toothless licked Hiccup's hand once, making the boy look down at him fondly and with only a bit of disgust. He wiped the saliva on his tunic and then petted Toothless softly.
"No, no, no! Toothless, stop. Please, wait! Toothless, please!" Not-Hiccup called out in alarm and then, all of a sudden, the tail opened and Not-Toothless froze, warbling in confusion. He moved his own tailfin and watched in fascination as the new artificial one moved in sync, making Hiccup awe at the wall. Toothless grunted. He didn't like it. Sure, he wasn't the boy's dragon quite yet – not in the same way – but he knew he wouldn't want to fly without him after bonding like that. "Uh, there you go. See?" Not-Toothless was staring at the tail, still, nodding to himself a little. "Got it?" Then his pupils narrowed and he snapped his head back in the human's direction. Hiccup, the one in the room, tensed, while the future one's smile faded a little, but not completely. "Toothless..." Not-Hiccup yelped when the dragon turned its tail and flew out of there. When he looked up at the sky, Not-Hiccup looked frustrated and confused… and then just lost.
Toothless grunted and shook his head, pulling away from a frozen Hiccup. No, this didn't make any sense. He began to pace, ignoring the stares of the three humans in the room who were all shocked at the image of him just bolting. Leaving. Flying away and letting Hiccup stay behind like he didn't even matter to him. He clearly mattered, and it wasn't just because he gave him back the ability to fly – there was something more there. There had to be!
Unlike the other dragons, Toothless didn't have a mate to see during that time of year and he couldn't have babies on his own, so leaving to go to the other dragons was always just for the sake of being with other beings that tolerated him and that weren't the queen. But Now he had Hiccup in his life, and it looked like, so far, the boy was more important to him than the other dragons. So why would he still want to leave and go to the island where they had their babies? Did he even go there? Oh, no! What if the queen was still alive after all this time and she called for Toothless the moment he was able to fly on his own again, without Hiccup on his back? What if he was going to have to be rescued from the Nest?!
No, he had to believe that he had a good reason for leaving. In the future, they were clearly still together, with Toothless wearing his other prosthetic – the one that had to be controlled by Hiccup. Why would he leave and then change his tail into one he couldn't control by himself? Maybe he came back after a while and Hiccup, desperate to keep him around, took away his tailfin and replaced it with the old one? No, that didn't make sense. Hiccup truly cared about him – he wouldn't ground Toothless just so he wouldn't leave him again, no matter how painful it must have been.
Chancing a glance back at the human hatchling, Toothless found Hiccup staring at him, looking hurt and betrayed. So he quickly caught himself and shook the thoughts out of his head. They would find out what'd happen later soon enough – now Hiccup needed him. He patted back towards Hiccup and purred quietly, looking unsurely at the human who didn't move at all. When Toothless nudged his stomach a little, Hiccup blinked, shook his head and welcomed him with a hand on the dragon's head.
"It's okay, bud." He whispered and his voice seemed to break a little at the words he was saying. Astrid and Stoick eyed them, both uncertain and sad, just like Hiccup. "You can leave if you want." He laughed a little when Toothless just stayed close to him, refusing to leave. If it was his choice, he would never use this tailfin. Ever. He didn't want it – he preferred staying with Hiccup. He'd help him with his new metal leg and Hiccup would help him fly. Flying alone… it seemed lonely after all of this. At his actions, Hiccup smiled and brought his head down until his nose touched Toothless' slick scales. "Thanks, Toothless."
When the wall changed its scene, they all saw Not-Hiccup lying on the ground, in the snow, expression disappointed. Above him, on the roof, was Not-Stoick, probably fixing the tiles Not-Toothless' had broken when he tried to get Not-Hiccup out of the house earlier on. Oops.
"Morning, son!"
Slowly getting up, Not-Hiccup didn't sound too enthusiastic. "Oh. Hey, Dad."
Seemingly not noticing Not-Hiccup's disinterest, Not-Stoick smiled down at him, looking cheerful and full of life. "Glad you're up. I was looking for your helmet."
While Not-Hiccup looked caught off guard and a little like he was going to curl up and hide at his father's words, Toothless perked up. The helmet… the helmet fell into the ocean and Not-Toothless wanted to bring it back only for Not-Hiccup to stop him. What if… what if Not-Toothless didn't go with the other dragons? What if he went back to get the helmet back to Not-Hiccup? That made much more sense!
"M-my helmet?" Not-Hiccup echoed, cringing.
Not-Stoick climbed down from the roof. "Odin needs a place to put your goodies!"
Not-Hiccup nodded unenthusiastically and looked down. "Yeah, right. I'll get on that." He turned his back to his father and began to walk away, his shoulders slumped in disappointment. The same one from before. Toothless crooned softly, believing everything would be alright. He was only missing because he went back for the helmet. That's it! He didn't need to see the rest of it to know he was right. He was just sure of it. "Great."
"Hold on!" Not-Stoick called and Not-Hiccup halted and turned back to him, watching as his father approached him, his grin gone. He actually looked concerned here, giving his son a look, like he could tell something was up and he didn't like it. "Hold on. Alright, come on. What's on your mind? Out with it."
"Huh." Astrid perked up a little. "You move your shoulders like that, too, sir." She noted with a smug smile and Hiccup and Stoick both looked at the chief on the wall, smiling awkwardly as if it was embarrassing to see the two of them doing something similar.
Not-Hiccup sighed and then looked up at his father. "It's been three days, Dad. I…" He trailed off for a moment. "I just thought Toothless would be back by now."
"Oh, I'm sure he's with the other dragons."
"Yeah? I wish I could be that sure." Not-Hiccup replied, sounding like he'd lost all hope already. Toothless nuzzled the boy he was sitting with and Hiccup chuckled, giving him an appreciative look, probably knowing Toothless was trying to cheer him up despite what was going on in that future.
The expression on Not-Stoick's face turned bittersweet, like he was remembering something similar. "Listen, I know what it's like to miss someone you love this time of year." He said and Not-Hiccup didn't look up at him, instead gazing at his feet with dull eyes. "But what do we do when they can't be here for the holiday?" He put a hand on Not-Hiccup's shoulder, shaking the boy's entire body from the force of it and making him look up at him. "We celebrate them. And I imagine that's exactly what Toothless would want you to do. Right?"
This seemed to make Not-Hiccup snap out of it. His eyes widened a little as if realizing his father was right. In the room, Hiccup smiled at Toothless' positive coo. "You're right."
Apparently, Not-Stoick's way of reacting to that was to slap his boy on the back so hard that he lost his balance and grunted when he was shoved sideways. "Good! Now go get that helmet." He walked away as Not-Hiccup rolled his shoulder in pain, a grimace on his face. "We've had enough disappointment around here."
Not-Hiccup stopped moving and slumped down again at the words, probably thinking about how his helmet… wasn't actually in his possession at the time. Stoick mumbled an apology to his son, looking embarrassed, but Hiccup didn't reply, too engrossed in the scene as it changed to show… Not-Hiccup walking on the island where all of the dragons were with their babies?! Toothless perked up and stared, crooning and warbling in excitement. Of course, the hatchling would find out about that somehow as well! Why wouldn't he? He was the first one to befriend a dragon and ride it. Why wouldn't he also be the first one to discover the island and its purpose?
"Toothless!" Not-Hiccup cupped his hands around his mouth as he called for the dragon. No Night Fury pounced on him, though. Hiccup winced in disappointment and leaned back, his hand still on Toothless' scales. "Toothless?" Not-Hiccup asked again, sounding more and more hopeless as he looked around, looking for the black dragon amongst all of the bright-coloured ones. "Come on, Toothless. Where are you?" He whispered to himself.
He kept on walking forward, looking downcast and upset until he came across all of the other dragons of the teens. Hookfang, Stormfly, Meatlug and the Hideous Zippleback were all there with countless babies chirping and trilling around them. The babies noticed Not-Hiccup first and began to chirp in excitement at his arrival, surprising him. The next one to notice the boy was Hookfang. The dragon lifted his head to look at Not-Hiccup after being woken up by the hatchlings.
"Hookfang!" Not-Hiccup cried out in joy and ran towards them, hugging the head of the Monstrous Nightmare like he'd done countless times. The dragon welcomed him happily, the hatchlings still chirping. "Stormfly!" Not-Hiccup noticed the Nadder eyeing him as well, her yellow eyes taking him in and a smile on her face. She looked so happy. Not-Hiccup ran to her and put his hands on her chin, grinning at her with wide eyes. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys." He smiled when Stormfly nudged him with her nose, breathing on him. Then he finally looked down and noticed the hatchlings. "And you have… babies?!" His voice broke from the excitement as his hand flew up to mess with his hair.
He bent down and held out his hand. One of the hatchlings hissed at him but stopped the moment another one of them touched Not-Hiccup's hand, nuzzling it. The three hatchlings looked at the boy with wide pupils, clearly liking him. Astrid gasped, her eyes taking in the baby dragons. She looked so proud – maybe because they belonged to her future dragon and hence were somewhat like family to her. Hiccup looked amazed by the sight of the dragons and the hatchlings and gave Toothless a questioning look that the Night Fury didn't know how to answer. Even Stoick looked like he was ready to coo at the sight of the adorable baby dragons.
"Aw, look at you guys, all happy together," Not-Hiccup laughed and scratched the scales of the hatchlings lightly, clearly being careful under the watchful eyes of their mother. Meanwhile, the babies hissed at each other to try and fight over his attention. "Who knew you were leaving to celebrate… your own… sort of… holiday." He frowned for a moment, as if realizing something, and then got up and put his hands on his hips, disappointing the hatchlings. "I should get back to my holiday." He said and then turned to Hookfang when the dragon growled at him. "So, what do you say there, Hookfang? Think you can give me a ride back home?"
"This is incredible," Astrid muttered, awestruck by the sight of all of the dragons and their little hatchlings. It's been fifteen years since Toothless was a hatchling but it was still touching. Although he didn't have babies of his own, he could understand how much this time of year meant to the other dragons. So he snuggled up close to Hiccup and crooned happily at the magical wall despite not seeing him coming back for the boy just yet. He knew he would. And he knew he would have a surprise for Hiccup.
Mounting the Monstrous Nightmare, Not-Hiccup and Hookfang flew off the ground and Hookfang hovered in front of the other dragons in the group of five. "I'll see you back on Berk when you are good and ready. Okay, gang?" Not-Hiccup asked and was answered with a chirp from Stormfly. The Nadder flapped her wings and joined him in the air, screeching at her babies. Soon, dragons all over the island flew up to join Not-Hiccup and the boy's eyes widened in shock and alarm. "Oh, no! No, no, no!" He waved his arm at them, but it didn't help. "I… uh, think I just started the return migration." He winced. The babies ran towards the edge and Not-Hiccup looked at them with uncertainty. "Well, if you insist…"
Hiccup cocked his head to the side and Stoick hummed. "Can they already fly, though?" The adult Viking asked and the two kids shrugged, not knowing the answer. Toothless huffed. No, baby dragons couldn't fly that easily. They needed some more time. Yet it looked like they weren't willing to not leave with their parents and their parents were not going to let Not-Hiccup leave without them.
"Come on!" Not-Hiccup urged the dragons on with a worried look. The babies flapped their little wings and tried to follow their parents to the sky only for the strong currents of the wind to throw them back onto the island. Not-Hiccup watched them from above. "Boy, this is never gonna work." He shook his head to himself when the dragons all roared and chirped and warbled. Then his eyes lit up. "Oh, hold on! I've got just the thing!" And he flew off with Hookfang.
They didn't get to see what his idea was, sadly. No, instead they watched as Not-Hiccup walked around a large hall filled to the brim with cheerful Vikings and the dragons and hatchlings. Toothless knew he wasn't the only one still taken aback by the sight of the Vikings and dragons all getting along like this because Hiccup gaped, Astrid hummed to herself and Stoick furrowed his brows a little as if the scene baffled him.
"They all look so happy…" Hiccup whispered and Toothless cooed at the scene and at Hiccup all at once. Not-Hiccup walked around, alone, and smiled at the Vikings embracing the dragons and playing with the hatchlings. They all looked so cheerful! He stopped at some point and just looked around, his smile turning bittersweet and almost longing. His eyes were sparkling a bit, probably from unshed tears. Toothless whined, knowing it was his own fault that the Viking was feeling down at such a time. Where was he?! Why wasn't he back yet?!
"Hiccup," Not-Astrid approached him and Astrid perked up a bit as if hoping she'd do something good. At her arrival, Not-Hiccup tugged at his lips until his grin looked a little more happy and less sad. "I know this must be really hard for you, seeing everyone with their dragons." At her words, though, his gaze turned downwards and his smile faded away until he was just looking disappointed and sad again. It hurt Toothless to see this. Apparently, it saddened Not-Astrid as well because she grabbed his hand and caught his eyes. "But you really did a wonderful thing." He smiled at her a little. "Thank you."
Astrid and Hiccup both covered their faces in embarrassment when Not-Astrid kissed Not-Hiccup. It didn't last long, but Toothless could tell Not-Hiccup was stunned by the action. Before he could even grasp what was happening, Not-Astrid stopped and embraced him. Not-Hiccup had a little, content smile when he hugged her back, his chin leaning on her shoulder. For a moment he looked happy.
But then his glee left him again. "Astrid, where did Toothless go?"
"I don't know…" The girl replied.
Then, still, with her arms around Not-Hiccup, she lifted her gaze to the doors of the hall as they creaked open, revealing a mischievous Night Fury peeking inside, startling the Vikings around him who began to murmur and stare at him. The dragon looked around for a moment before he perked up at the sight of Not-Hiccup and Not-Astrid standing not too far off. Toothless chortled when he realized Not-Hiccup couldn't see it. Hiccup, though, could see the entire thing and his eyes lit up again as he embraced Toothless like he was already excited about getting to see him again in the future. Toothless warbled in content.
Smirking, Not-Astrid pulled back from Not-Hiccup who smiled at her, clearly trusting her to lift his spirits. "Oh, man. Wouldn't wanna be you right now." She taunted him and his smile fell, replaced with confusion and then annoyance. Hiccup gave Astrid a look but when she smiled at him, one brow lifted, as if daring him to criticize her choices, he beamed back at her, if a little sheepish. "I mean, you brought back EVERYONE'S dragon except yours."
"Yeah, you know, this is not helping at all."
He rolled his eyes at her but Not-Astrid didn't even pay attention, too excited about what was going on behind the boy's back. She bounced in place and then finally shoved him towards Not-Toothless. For a moment Not-Hiccup grunted at the force of being thrown away like that and then his entire face lit up at the sight of the Night Fury running towards him, something in his mouth. Toothless had the feeling he knew what it was.
"Toothless!" Not-Hiccup ran forward and then stopped in front of Not-Toothless, for a moment just staring at him, gaping. Toothless had the feeling he was trying to make sure he wasn't dreaming. And then he jumped forward and hugged Not-Toothless' neck, clearly surprising Not-Toothless with this reaction to his arrival. Around them, all of the Vikings and dragons looked at the heartwarming scene, smiling. Eventually, Not-Hiccup pulled back and faked a scowl in the dragon's direction, pointing at him accusingly. Not-Toothless just followed the movement of his finger innocently. "Bad dragon! Very bad dragon!" Not-Hiccup's mask slipped and he grinned again. "You scared me to death! Don't ever stay away that long again and… what is in your mouth…?"
Everyone cringed in disgust – in the room and in the scene – except for the dragons when Not-Toothless opened his mouth on top of Not-Hiccup's head, dropping the lost helmet and completely soaking the boy with his drool. Hiccup grimaced at the scene and gave Toothless a mixed look that displayed both his appreciation and love towards him and how much he hated being covered in Toothless' saliva. Toothless just aimed his gummy smile at him. Astrid shook her head at the wall and Toothless guessed she was imagining kissing the boy's cheek when he was covered in THAT, like they've seen her do later on in the future. Stoick just pressed his lips, though he had a wide smile on his face. When his shoulders shook a little, Toothless realized he was trying not to laugh at his son.
Looking disgusted himself, Not-Hiccup had his eyes closed as his entire head was dripping with the slobber. "Oh… yeah…" He tried to wipe some of the substance away, not doing much. "You found my helmet." He said it like he wasn't really acknowledging that fact enough. And then Not-Toothless warbled and Not-Hiccup opened his eyes to look back at the dragon, his smile returning. "Wha-hey! You found my helmet!" He repeated and let Not-Toothless nuzzle against his outstretched hand. "That's where you've been? Buddy, thank you. You are amazing."
He hugged Not-Toothless again and Toothless warbled contently when Hiccup did the same. At least his reaction was better than the one he had in the future. He looked like he didn't expect Not-Hiccup to hug him like that the first time and he didn't expect it the second time, either. So he just sat there and took it, though Toothless could tell he loved and enjoyed it. He just didn't know why it meant so much to Not-Hiccup. Of course, he didn't – he didn't know how bad the boy felt about Not-Toothless being away for so long.
"Alright, bud. Come on down. I was just – " The next scene flickered to life and showed them Not-Hiccup stepping around to the space behind his house only to stop short at the sight of Not-Toothless already sitting on the snow, patiently waiting for him. In front of him was the old saddle, along with the tailfin he had before. Hiccup looked confused, just like Not-Hiccup. "Toothless, what'd you pull this out for? You don't need this anymore." He shoved the saddle out of the way and went to try and reach Not-Toothless. "Come on, let's get going."
Not-Toothless moved away and avoided him, moving around the boy and the saddle. He grumbled and warbled a bit, looking down at the abandoned saddle. Not-Hiccup looked even more confused.
"Would you quit fooling around?" He tried to reach Not-Toothless again but the Night Fury moved once more. Hiccup frowned now down at Toothless, giving him a quizzical look as if expecting an answer. Toothless just returned his stare and then revealed his gummy smile. "You have your new tail now." Not-Toothless snorted. "Toothless…?" Not-Toothless looked the boy in the eyes before lifting his tail and opening and closing his two tailfins. Then he straightened up and slammed his tail repeatedly against the ground, breaking the tail. Not-Hiccup jumped in alarm. "Toothless, stop! What are you doing?!"
Finally free, Not-Toothless flapped his tail around until the new tailfin flew up and away. Not-Hiccup's distress turned to astonishment when Not-Toothless lowered his head and crooned hopefully at him, bringing forward the old saddle and tailfin once more. He looked like he was pleading with the other boy, begging him to use that version of the tail again. Not-Hiccup stared and began to smile when Not-Toothless pawed at the saddle again.
"Oh. My. Gods." Astrid whispered, her eyes unblinking as she just stared at the wall with a smile. Next to her, speechless himself, Stoick just nodded, agreeing with whatever it was she meant by saying that. Toothless didn't mind too much, too busy gulping down Hiccup's response to all of this. His eyes were bright and clear and joyous. He almost looked like he was going to burst.
Covering his face in the black scales of Toothless, the dragon could feel Hiccup's smile. "Thank you." He whispered quietly – loud enough for Toothless to hear and quiet enough for Astrid and Stoick to miss. When Toothless rumbled a little in return, Hiccup smiled and hugged him tighter, as if unable to let go, no matter what.
They kept on cuddling together when the next scene began, showing the cove from earlier on. It was nighttime again and, Toothless noticed, that Not-Hiccup had both his legs again. The boy and Not-Astrid were both on top of Not-Toothless, flying down back to the cove. They all looked like they'd just been through some kind of an adventure. By the looks on their faces… it wasn't a positive one.
"No, no. It totally makes sense!" Not-Astrid called as they lowered down and Astrid pinched her brows together, her body leaning in towards the wall. Hiccup did the same, though he glanced down at Toothless every few seconds as if to check whether or not he was okay. Or even still there. Toothless had no idea why but he had a bad feeling. "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them." Not-Astrid got off of Not-Toothless and began to run off. "Let's find your dad."
"Are you crazy?!" Hiccup exclaimed, pulling at his hair. His eyes were wide and he stared at the wall in horror, Astrid looking a little confused. "I don't know what you're talking about in there, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the dragons. And if that's true, then telling Dad – sorry, Dad – " He glanced at his father apologetically for a moment. " – Would just make him go after Toothless!"
Toothless himself was busy thinking. Not-Astrid mentioned a beehive and its queen. She mentioned the queen controlling the workers. She said it right after getting off of a dragon's back. She… they… Toothless really did take them to the Nest, didn't he? Was he CRAZY?! What was he thinking, taking the hatchlings to the Nest where the queen was? He couldn't comprehend taking Hiccup there, so Astrid as well?! Then again, maybe they flew too far off of Berk and Toothless just couldn't resist her call? Maybe she noticed he was getting closer to her and he had no choice but to follow her call and fly over to the Nest, with the two humans strapped to his back. It… it had to be an accident, right?
The girl's shoulders hunched and she pouted. "Well, I'm sorry I'm busy thinking about the ENTIRE VILLAGE, Hiccup." She glared at the boy who, for once, didn't cower under the harsh gaze sent his way. Astrid breathed in and out to calm herself down and when she spoke again, her voice was softer. "I get that you care about Toothless – he's amazing. I KNOW. But this doesn't change the fact that if we discover something important about dragons that can help us with the war, we have to tell the village about it. We can't keep on losing supply and people to this battle. You KNOW that!"
It seemed that Hiccup wasn't willing to listen to her. He just scowled and looked away from her, boring his eyes into the wall like it would somehow help him. Somehow reveal to him what they should do next. "Toothless must have taken us to the Nest." He said eventually, voice measured like he was trying hard not to explode. Stoick and Astrid listened carefully. "I bet we saw this… this queen. The queen in the Nest controls all of the other dragons and makes them… makes them raid us and attack us. She's probably worse than anything else we've ever encountered because I tried to warn Dad later on about going to the Nest, remember? I said there was a dragon there that's like nothing we've ever seen." He frowned at Toothless. "Is that it? Is that why you attack us?"
Toothless bowed his head and trilled lightly, ashamed. Hiccup's frown deepened as a result and his eyes glazed over, like he was busy thinking distantly about something. Stoick's face showcased mostly dread, like he didn't want to believe it before, but now had no other choice but to acknowledge the fact that he and the others were all on the wrong side of this war for so long. Astrid just pressed her lips together, looking paler than before. When her eyes met with Toothless', he saw fear reflecting in them.
On the wall, Not-Hiccup looked after Not-Astrid in alarm as he got off of Not-Toothless to chase after her. "No! No. No, not yet." He grabbed her hand briefly to make her stop and she frowned at him when he let go and waved his arms around, begging her to listen to him. "They'll… kill Toothless." They both turned to steal a glance at the dragon watching them. Not-Astrid looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "N-Astrid, we have to think this through carefully."
"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's Nest," Not-Astrid said to the boy's back as he began to pace very slowly back towards Not-Toothless. He looked like he was trying to figure out what to do. "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you wanna keep it a secret? What protects your pet dragon? Are you serious?!"
He swirled around to face her, his eyebrows furrowed and his face stern. His shoulders, for once, weren't slumped, and his head was held high. He looked almost like he did later in his life. Confident, sure, brave. "Yes." He stated simply and Not-Astrid's face melted into astonishment as she observed him. He held her gaze for a moment or two and then kept on walking away.
Not-Astrid still gaped at him. "Okay." It was like she decided to go completely one-hundred eighty on them all. Instead of leaning forward as if to attack him, she let her body lean back. Her features were all softer. She looked at Not-Hiccup like she was willing to listen and obey him. "Then what do we do?"
"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out."
"Okay." Toothless expected Not-Astrid to leave immediately, but instead, she punched Not-Hiccup's shoulder, surprising the boy. "That's for kidnapping me." She said and Not-Hiccup turned his flabbergasted look towards Not-Toothless who just shook his head, not getting involved anymore. When Not-Astrid took hold of his vest as well, Not-Hiccup seemed to brace himself for another hit only for Not-Astrid to pull him a little forward. She kissed him on the cheek, stunning him and Hiccup (in the room). She didn't meet his eyes after that. "That's for… everything else."
She ran off afterwards and for a few seconds, Not-Hiccup just stood there, still holding his shoulder. He looked after her, his surprise slowly turning into a content smile. Not-Toothless appeared next to him, looking like he was interested in what was going on around him all of a sudden. Not-Hiccup frowned at him when the dragon cooed. "Uh-wha-wh-what are you looking at?" He stammered and Toothless chortled when his future self seemed to grumble an innocent 'nothing' before they both looked at the spot where Not-Astrid used to be.
Hiccup shoved Toothless' head away from his lap and pouted at him. "Stop laughing, you useless reptile!" He whined, his gaze not even coming close to looking in Astrid's direction. Toothless pawed at the boy's chest playfully, making him fall down on his back, chuckling and swatting at the dragon to try and get him away. "N-no, wait! Stop!" Hiccup laughed and winced a little when instead of pawing at him, now Toothless was licking him. "Ugh, that's disgusting."
