Review

DJ Rodriguez: No problem.

Now, Hiccup didn't intend to free the dragons at first but he did in the end.

And nice in noticing that Gojira was unaffected by the Red Death's call. And yes, it has to do with the fact that he is a dinosaur and not a dragon.

And the ending was fun to write.

Now on with the story.

Chapter 5: More Dragons, More Friends

Hiccup rubbed his hands together. "Alright, we can handle this, can't WE–!" Toothless suddenly leaps up, tackling Hiccup to the ground as a flurry of Nadder spikes flies over them. Hiccup grunts as he hits the grass, and Toothless stands over him, both the Fury and Gojira were now shrieking a roar at the Nadder, who cringes.

Hiccup smiled at his dragon companion. "Thanks, Toothless."

Toothless re-sheathed his teeth and crooned, nudging Hiccup's chin with his snout.

The Viking Teen stood up. "As I was saying, we got this." But then Toothless grumbled, he was beginning to walk away from him.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Hey! You're not going to help?" He asked before scowling. "Alright, walk away, ya big baby."

Gojira grumbled in amusement. The two are messing with one another, trading annoyances on the Fury's part and sarcasm on Hiccup's.

Hiccup turns back to the dragons. The Nightmare and the Zippleback are intertwined, rolling this way and that as they try to bite each other's throats. A task that is easier for the Nightmare, as the Zippleback has two necks.

The Nadder is guarding the fish pile, leaping this way and that as she scans the nearby area. The Gronckle seems to be nursing its wounds by the tree, growling.

Hiccup tilts his head in consideration. Nearby lies a woven bag, and within it remains one single fish. Hiccup snatches it up, careful to hide it from the others, and approaches the Gronckle. The dragon turns on Hiccup and snarls as he inches forward.

Across the lake, Toothless opens his eyes, glaring at the Gronckle. Gojira lifts his head and glares as well.

Hiccup smiled. "Hey." he greeted the Gronckle. "How's the head?" he asked, recalling that Astrid had hit the Boulder Class dragon on the head with her axe.

The dragon only shuffles back with a weary expression. Oh yeah, he punched the Gronckle in the nose.

Hiccup holds up the fish in hand. "I've got some fish here for ya." he said in a friendly tone. "I know the rations in the Ring weren't that great. If we hurry, maybe you can eat it before the Nadder sees."

Hiccup holds out the fish, but the Gronckle only snarls at him. Hiccup's brows furrow. Suddenly, the Zippleback starts racing towards him.

Hiccup recoils. "Woah, hey!" he exclaims before he throws the fish far from him, successfully deterring the Zippleback as it darts for the food. The Gronckle grumbles, and Hiccup ponders.

Across the way, Nadder spikes embed in the stone above the Nightmare, who hisses fire. As the flame-skinned dragon roars, Hiccup slips just beside it, picking up a rock that broke from the wall. He eyes the Nightmare, slowly backing out of sight with his prize.

When Hiccup re-appears, the Gronckle snarls again. Behind Hiccup, it is seen that Toothless has moved closer, lingering only a few feet behind and lying on his paws. Behind him, Gojira is behind him watching the entire scene with rapt attention.

Hiccup holds out the stone. "Here. This is what you like, right?" he asked. "I saw you eat some in the Ring."

The Gronckle's eyes softens before she leans in, sniffing curiously. Hiccup gained a thoughtful expression. "Maybe the queen has you steal fish, but you eat rocks, don't you?"

Toothless lifts his head, watching. The Gronckle studies Hiccup, who only smiles, reassuring. It makes for a peaceful scene, until the Nightmare runs past in the background, the Nadder on its back, pecking at its head. They bump into the face of Gojira who growls a warning at them both. Hiccup hears it, but doesn't turn away from the Gronckle. One thing at a time. Gojira huffs before laying his head back down.

Finally, the Gronckle opens its jaws. Hiccup beams even wider, and tosses the rock, which lands on the Gronckle's tongue. The dragon snaps it happily up, rumbling in satisfaction.

Gronckles eat rocks. Hiccup made a note to write that down later. As the Gronckle chews happily, Hiccup inches forward and places his hand on the dragon's nose. "I'm really sorry for hitting you." he declared softly. "I hope it didn't hurt too bad."

And as Hiccup scratches the Gronckle's jaw, it presses further into his hand. "One down."

Toothless suddenly shoves his way between the two, angling his chin so that it is level with Hiccup's hand. The Gronckle roars, but Toothless snaps at it, and turns to Hiccup expectantly.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Well, alright, Mr. Bossy."

Hiccup tackles the Nadder, next. The dragon is sitting perched by the now-devastated pile of fish, picking at her wings with her beak. Hiccup watches for a while as the Nadder does one wing, than the other, and then moves to her spines. While she is turned to her backside, Hiccup creeps up in front of her. Toothless watches anxiously, but it seems that his help is unneeded. Hiccup slips carefully and quietly into the Nadder's blind spot.

Hiccup was moving with self-assurance, the way only Gobber had seen him do in the forge. Here is Hiccup, comfortable here in the cove with dragons, almost in his element. It's odd to see. Hiccup had wanted for so many years to transform into some great dragon slayer, and here he was, sneaking up on a Deadly Nadder without even trying.

The Nadder startles when Hiccup begins to scratch its chin, but it is already too late, Hiccup has found the sweet spot. The dragon relaxes into his hand.

Hiccup grins. "We haven't officially met. I'm Hiccup." he points behind him. "That's Toothless and there's Gojira." Over Hiccup's shoulder, Toothless huffs and turns away. Gojira yawned as he basked in the sun.

The Nadder still appears a bit uneasy, so Hiccup rambles while he scratches. "We ought to come up with a name for you. Maybe something about your scales. They're so bright."

The Nadder perks up, her spines flaring out, and nuzzles further into Hiccup. Hiccup narrows his eyes. "You agree? We'll have to find a dazzling name for scales that beautiful."

Again, the Nadder reacts with glee. "You look like a powerful flyer. How about Stormfly?" Hiccup grins. "How's that sound, pretty girl?"

The Nadder runs around him, nudging him with her snout. Her tongue darts out, licking him. Hiccup laughs.

However, it seemed Hiccup would have more trouble with the Zippleback. The Zippleback was far less aggressive than the other three. Hiccup stood right in front of the dragon, and the heads did little more than peer down at him, poking around his vest for more fish.

Hiccup raises his hands, trying to scratch the heads, but where one head leans into the scratch, the other looks at a bird flying overhead. Then vice versa. Then, the dragon runs off, chasing a rabbit that was darting under a bush.

Hiccup sighs, frustrated. "They're so. . . scatterbrained." He complains to Toothless and Gojira, both of which are lounging in a spot of sun. The former was actually resting on the latter's head with the Terror curled on top of his head.

Hiccup runs a hand through his hair. "All they want to do is. . . ." he trails off as he gets an idea. "Run around and play." He looks over to his Night Fury companion. "Hey, Toothless! How fast is a Night Fury, really?"

Stormfly leaps back with a surprised screech as Toothless runs by, Hiccup on his back. Hiccup turns around, laughing as the Zippleback surges behind them, snapping at Toothless' tail. Hiccup shifts his ankle in the pedal, allowing Toothless to make a leap over the pond, the Zippleback still giving chase.

They then run up Gojira's tail and back, the large Saurian lifts his head and is looking back at them in surprise before the jump off his head. He gives them a half hearted glare for climbing on him like so before the Zippleback does the exact same thing, kicking off his nose. Gojira blinked owlishly in response.

After an unclear amount of time, the Zippleback's run slows to a walk, and the dragon finally crashes onto its belly, exhausted. Toothless turns around, preening, and Hiccup leaps off his back and is already running towards the exhausted Zippleback. He kneels before the dragon, holding a hand out to each head. "That was fun."

Tiredly, the Zippleback presses both heads into Hiccup's hands. The young Haddock turns around, giving Toothless a wide smile and a thumbs up.

The Night Fury rolls its eyes, and settles down.

And then finally, it is the Nightmare. The great red dragon is sitting by the pond. Hiccup makes no attempt to sneak up upon it, nor does he have a fish or rock to offer, and this dragon seems far more subdued than the others. Hiccup steps carefully, and the Nightmare watches.

Hiccup holds out his hand. "Hi, again. I was wondering if–" The Nightmare presses its snout into Hiccup's hand.

Hiccup blinks too, looking at the Nightmare as it looks up at him, snout still against his palm. Then, slowly, Hiccup grins. "Aww. You like me!"

The Nightmare's eyes narrow, and it pulls away, sauntering off. "You do!" Hiccup exclaimed, throwing his arms up with his grin still maintained.

Toothless shoves his head suddenly under Hiccup's arm, who jumps, before smiling. Toothless growls, circling around Hiccup, brushing him with his tail. "Aww, are you feeling left out? Don't worry, Bud, you're still my favorite." He hugs the black dragon's head with his arms. Toothless croons happily response.

The little Terror chirped up at him as he crawled on Toothless' back with a draconic smile. Hiccup chuckled and scratched under the Terror's chin.

"I haven't forgotten you, Sharpshot," the Viking chuckled before Gojira walked over to where he stood and gently bumped his jaw against Hiccup who hugged him as best as he could.

Three hours later

The chimney of the forge spits out fire. Inside, Hiccup carries a cup of liquid metal, pouring it into a mold. His eyes are distracted from the work, however, as outside, Stoick is shouting at passing Vikings, angered by everyone and everything.

"Shoddy workmanship, that's what it is!" He shouts. "A faulty wheelbarrow?! How is this island meant to function with faulty wheelbarrows?!"

On the ground lies a wheelbarrow, overturned, one wheel having broken free and rolled off, spilling Mildew's cabbages into the dirt.

"Like anyone buys em', anyway." Gobber mutters, and Hiccup nods.

Stoick is heard shouting again. "A faulty barrow, a faulty gate, a faulty Arena! This island is falling apart, and it's all on shoddy workmanship, that's what it is!"

Hiccup winces, turning away from the window.

Gobber noticed his reaction. "Ah, don't worry about it, Hiccup. Stoick's just stressed about the mess in the Ring." he tries to reassure.

Hiccup frowns. "Maybe I should camp out here tonight." he muttered. He would rather be outside and away from the same building of an angry Stoick.

Gobber rose an eyebrow. "Why? This particular disaster wasn't your doin'." he stated.

When the smith is turned away, Hiccup cringes. "Thank you, Gobber."

Gobber didn't hear him and continued working. "Besides, he's still over the moon about your talents in Dragon Training."

Hiccup scoffs. "'Was' over the moon, maybe." he said with a frown. "But now? I can't even imagine what he's going to say about the Final Test yesterday. . ."

Gobber turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "You two didn't talk last night?"

Hiccup shrugs. "Uh, no, he, uh– Dad went to celebrate with everyone and I went to bed early." he replied. It was a half truth, since Stoick did indeed go to the Great Hall to celebrate with the village for Astrid's success in Dragon Training.

Gobber nodded. "Ah, well, I'm sure Stoick is pleased. After all, there's no shame in losin' to a Hofferson!"

"Damn right!" Voices of said family calls from outside the forge, along with a few other cheers.

"I think yer father is willing to take whatever he can get!" Gobber said to Hiccup with a grin. "After all, who would have guessed you were a little dragon-killing prodigy?"

Hiccup looks away, focusing again on mending the chains from the Arena. Gobber steals a glance at Hiccup, who is visually despondent, shoulders hunched over his work.

Trying to lift his spirits, Gobber opens his mouth. "So..."

Oh, this'll be good, Hiccup thinks to himself. "What?" Hiccup looks up.

Gobber grins slyly. "How's it goin with the ladies?"

Hiccup gives him a eyeroll and deadpan expression. "Oh, yeah, way to get the mood back on track."

Gobber chuckled. "Ah, come on. I've seen the way you look at Astriiiid~."

Hiccup shook his head. "Please. Astrid wouldn't come near me if she was on fire and I had the only bucket of water in town." And with his experience with trying to douse a Zippleback during Dragon Training, Hiccup was confident that he would miss if he tried to help.

Gobber waved a finger. "Ah, ah, ah! Not true! She tackled you to safety in the Ring." he pointed out and then said in a sing-song voice. "Very romantic!"

Hiccup rolls his eyes in amusement. "Sure, Gobber."

"Hey."

Both Gobber and Hiccup freeze, turning to find Astrid in the entrance of the forge, her axe on her shoulder.

Astrid rose an eyebrow at them. "Can I get this sharpened?" she asked.

Hiccup waved a hand. "Astrid! Hi, Astrid, hello there, welcome." He stammered. "What can I–"

Suddenly, Astrid throws her axe, striking a wooden block. Gobber and Hiccup look at the weapon, surprised.

Gobber finds his voice. "Uh...my manly apprentice here will–" He shoves Hiccup forward, who promptly turns and gives the smith the most deadpan look to ever deadpan. "–service all of your needs. I have to go...get...some...ju–I–I'm just gonna go."

Smooth, Gobber, Hiccup thinks sarcastically as the two-limbed Blacksmith giggles under his breath, and Hiccup keeps on glaring after him.

He looks to Astrid, and shrugs. "Gobber. Okay, razor-sharp battle axe, coming right up." He takes the axe from Astrid, crumpling a little under the weight. He drags it over to the sharpening wheel, chuckling nervously.

Astrid shrugs and mutters. "Not like I'll be needing it."

Hiccup looks away, focusing on the axe instead. The head is chipped in several places, entire chunks of the metal gone. The face is scratched and gouged, and the edge is so dull that it does little more than leave a crease in Hiccup's palm.

"Woah! Yeesh!" Hiccup cringes. He looks completely scandalized at the condition of the axe. "What did you do?!" he looks to Astrid with wide eyes.

Astrid looks sheepish. "I may have taken my anger out. . . uh, on the forest." she admitted.

Hiccup shakes his head, horrified. This makes Astrid worry. "Can it be fixed?" she asked.

Uh, no. Hiccup wanted to say. Instead he shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute to collect myself. I'm looking at something pretty traumatic." he said in a joking tone.

Astrid laughs in amusement. Hiccup grins before deciding to make conversation. "I'm sorry about. . . the Nightmare."

Astrid shook her head and spoke in a dismissive tone. "It's alright. I am not upset."

Raising a skeptic eyebrow, Hiccup looks pointedly at the ruined axe.

Astrid rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "They'll catch another one, and when they do, I'll slay it in the Arena just like I was supposed to today." she stated confidently. "All this means is more time to train."

Hiccup nods his head slowly. "Yeah, true, true." he said absently.

Astrid wanders, poking around swords and maces on the wall. Hiccup shoots a look at her turned back, and then promptly pops the head off the axe, dropping it into a basket of scrap metal and shoving it beneath a table.

While Hiccup scrounges for a new axe head, Astrid wanders to the curtain of Hiccup's workshop, dragging it back.

As Hiccup sets to sharpening the new axe, Astrid steps into Hiccup's workshop.

Hiccup's journal sits on the desk, open to a page of Toothless, crouched to pounce. One looking closer might see the shaded spot in the charcoal grass meant to represent a spot of light, but Astrid only sees the pre-pounce, unfamiliar dragon.

Astrid picks it up. "Hiccup? Can I. . . ask you something?" she asked.

Hiccup is bent over the axe, turning it this way and that, preoccupied. "Uh. . . yeah?"

Astrid hesitated before speaking, "Did you really shoot down a Night Fury?"

Hiccup freezes. What should he tell her? Sensing his nervousness or confusion at her question, Astrid spoke again, "It's just, you were doing so well in Dragon Training that–"

Hiccup cuts her off. "–that now it actually seems believable?"

Astrid frowns. "No–" she tried but Hiccup cuts her off again. The Viking heir shook his head. "No, I didn't. I was mistaken." he declared.

Astrid narrowed her eyes slightly. "Then, what's this?"

Hiccup turns around to find Astrid holding the curtain back, her other hand clutching the journal, Toothless-drawing displayed.

Hiccup's eyes widen. "Hey, woah!" he exclaimed as he hurried over to her. "You're actually. . .not supposed to be back there." he said a little sheepish.

"Sorry," Astrid closes the journal before handing it back to him. "What. . .happened?"

Hiccup swallows, and then– "I shot him down." he admits. "I looked for him in the woods, and when I finally found him, he was breaking the ropes. I ducked behind a rock, and only saw him for a second. He flew away."

Astrid's eyes widened. "Oh. That's still—that's still really impressive, Hiccup." she said with a small smile. "Especially that you went to look for it all on your own."

Hiccup doesn't smile back ". . . thanks." It was impressive, but clearly Hiccup didn't agree. Maybe the Hiccup before he met Toothless and Gojira would have.

Astrid frowns and tries again. "It's a really good drawing."

This time, Hiccup smiles, "Thank you."

"I have another question." Astrid stated.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and remarked. "Lots of questions."

"What happened with the Gronckle?" she asked.

And Hiccup's easy wit is gone. He had hoped that the blonde Shield Maiden had not noticed his actions. Play dumb! Play dumb! his consciousness told him. "Gronckle? What Gronckle? What?" He could just imagine his father saying to him, "A little too dumb, son."

Astrid rose an eyebrow before clarifying. ". . . the Gronckle in the Ring. During the Final Test."

Hiccup nods his head slowly. "Uh huh."

"You won." Astrid stressed. "You brought it down, but then all of the sudden it was up and roaring again."

Hiccup shuffled before trying to answer vaguely. "Yeah, I don't know. I guess it didn't work."

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "What didn't work?" Hiccup gazes to the side. "Uh–"

"How did you bring it down?" Astrid asked. "Your axe was on the ground."

Hiccup shook his head. "No, it wasn't." Astrid nodded her head. "Yes, it was."

Hiccup shook his head again. "No–"

Astrid nodded vehemently. "Yes, it was, Hiccup. Look," She took a breath. "Dragon Training is over, so, you can tell me. You don't have to be afraid that I'll...steal your tricks or–"

Suddenly, Hiccup laughs. "I'm not worried about– I don't have any tricks, okay? I just did what Gobber told us to. Plus, you won. You're still the best, so it doesn't even matter. I should be asking you for tricks."

And Hiccup hands her the weapon with some difficulty, clearly eager for the lass to be gone.

That's a first, part of him notes. He would have given anything to have her speak to her more than a few minutes. "Here's your axe."

Astrid seemed taken aback by his actions. "Thanks." She takes it– and then tosses it from hand to hand, confused. "This feels different."

Hiccup's eyes darted before smiling at her nervously. "Oh, yeah– I rebalanced it. Tightened it up, uh, finessed it." he said. "We're a full-service outfit, here."

Astrid blinked. "Huh. Thanks."

Hiccup nods his head. "Sure."

The two teens stand in awkward silence. "So, I'll see you–" Astrid begins and Hiccup tries to bid her farewell at the same time. "Yeah, yeah, definitely. I'll see you–"

"–later."

"–around."

Astrid leaves, and Hiccup dashes back, drawing the curtains tight against his workshop. Then, he leans against the wall, deflating in relief. He nods to himself, sighing.

Outside of the Forge, Astrid briefly leans against the wall of the building before sighing with a shake of her head and then continues walking.

Hiccup manages to make friends with the dragons from the arena. YAY! More friends.

He speaks with Astrid who seems to question his actions during the Final Test with the Gronckle but he deflects most of her questions as he replaces her axe without her knowing.

Next, it will seem that Berk is destined to sail to Dragon Island.