User blog:Invisiblewing/HTTYD Fanfiction/Retelling: Part 7

Thanks (again) to anyone who took the time to read any of my previous blog posts. If you have any suggestions for improvement or just ideas that you think would be good to include in this story, feel free to let me know. Here is part 7 of my story based on the movie.

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Oh, no. This wasn’t going to be good. I woke up and realized that I was going to walk into dragon training today after being truant for two days. I sighed, resigning myself to a maelstrom of Gobber’s wrath and questions, but I figured I didn’t have a choice.

I put my boots on and walked toward the great hall for breakfast. Slowly ate a fish and headed to the armory. I walked into the armory and looked around. I needed a shield with a flat centerpiece. I knew I didn’t have enough time to fashion a new one, so I looked for a shield that had the flattest metal I could find. Maybe I could get lucky and find a shield with a flat centerpiece, or better yet, a shield with one that was concave. Doubted it though. Flat was most likely out of those two, but it wasn’t popular here. For whatever reason, people on Berk preferred conical centerpieces to their shields.

I scanned through the shields we had strewn about the armory, looking for anything promising. I found one in the back of the armory with a sizeable layer of dust. Pulled it out and felt an itch in my nose. I turned my head to the side and sneezed, sending dust flying everywhere. Walked back toward the front of the armory and grabbed a coarse cloth. I began wiping the shield down so it would look at least somewhat cared for. After clearing the dust off, I went to town on the centerpiece, trying to achieve a mirror-like sheen. It took a little bit, but eventually, the centerpiece began showing another Hiccup looking back at me. Scrubbed some more. A near-perfect reflection. Time for the show. I headed out of the armory with my new weapon and ambled over to the arena.

“Ah, Hiccup, there you are!” Gobber said in a mixture of excitement and relief. “We needed you for the past two days. Nobody can figure out how you did what you did to the other dragons.” The other teens looked at me, probably wondering what trick I had up my sleeve today.

“Well, I’m not sure I know either,” I lied. “I think I’ve just been getting lucky.”

“What have you been doing lately, anyway?” he asked. “And why did you run away from the armory two days ago?”

I just knew he was going to ask this question. What made it worse was that we were in the arena, ready to start training. There were several more people here than normal, probably because of the rumors that had been flying around about me. About how I was reclusive because I didn’t want to share my “dragon-fighting secrets.” Or that I might have been carried off by a dragon for the last two days. About how I went from Pathetic Viking Excuse to Master Dragon Fighter literally overnight.

“I, uh, I…Can we talk about this later? Really?” I asked.

“No, we can’t. You need to explain to everyone here why you were truant. Dragon training isn’t optional, because this is life and death.”

I sighed in frustration. “I…I don’t think this is a good time. Please, Gobber. I know I’ve been an inconvenience to everyone, but it really needs to wait.” I wondered how “being an inconvenience” two days ago was different from any other day in Berk.

Gobber waved his hand in the air, giving up. “Fine. Let’s meet the final dragon for training.”

He walked over to a lever that didn’t control a bole this time. It was just a small door, maybe two feet tall. I wasn’t sure how it locked and unlocked, but I darned well knew what dragon was behind Door Number Four. The Terrible Terror.

I think Terrible Terrors are comically dangerous. These little guys are maybe four feet long from snout to tailtip. They walk on all fours and move like a lizard, just in larger form. Kinda like the Deadly Nadder, they are always vocalizing about something. Although, instead of cackles and warbles, the Terrible Terror is usually growling or snarling at something. I think they remind me of little dogs, how they are always fighting with each other and try to appear vicious despite their small size. Not that they aren’t dangerous, mind you. I never saw a Terror that was scared to spit fire at something. They also come in a variety of colors, just like the other dragons (save for the Night Fury).

The Terrible Terror rushed out of its enclosure as Gobber shouted to us from nearby, “Meet the Terrible Terror!” He put the accent on the last syllable of “terror.” All of us winced because Gobber was too close to us to be shouting. The miniature dragon licked its left eye to clean it. I have no idea why Terrors do this because they have eyelids anyway.

Tuffnut was the first one to recover his wits and laughed, pointing at it. “Ha! It’s, like, the size of my…” The dragon saw Tuffnut moving and attacked, jumping onto his face and latching onto his nose with its jaws. “AUGH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” he shouted in panic as he fell to the ground.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“That’s what you get for being complacent, Tuffnut,” Gobber said with a hint of spite, probably taking his frustration from me out on Tuffnut.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I was content to let the little dragon have its fun with Tuffnut, but decided that he shouldn’t be too hurt. He was already “very much hurt” after the encounter with the Zippleback. I got really lucky today, because I knew that a small dragon, like the Terrible Terror, would be easily distracted. Angling myself to catch the sunlight with my shield, I quickly got a bright spot just behind Tuffnut’s head. The Terror immediately saw the spot and pounced.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As the dragon left Tuffnut’s head, he shouted, “OH, I AM HURT! I AM VERY MUCH HURT!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Give it a rest, will ya?” Gobber shouted back. “If you don’t stop, I’ll give you something to hurt about!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon snarled and growled at the bright spot, following it around. I let it play for a little bit, showing everyone my little trick. Unlike the garlic grass or eel, I couldn’t hide this one, so I let everyone notice what was going on. Briefly, I thought about moving the spot onto Tuffnut’s leg, but decided against it. Gobber was already mad at me, and I didn’t need to show anyone here a cruelly sadistic Hiccup.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Wow. He’s better than you ever were,” Tuffnut said to Astrid, his nose turning red. She just huffed and glared at him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Tuffnut, I don’t need any of your commentary!” she shouted. Everyone else just watched in awe as I had complete control over the now-not-so-dangerous dragon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I eventually got tired of showing off and let the light guide the dragon back to its door, where it wriggled in and was silent after that. Gobber locked the door and said, “Hiccup, how did you figure that one out?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I shrugged. “Guessed. Got lucky.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid just stared at me, saying, “You’ve said that about a hundred times. I don’t think you’re just getting lucky. I think something else is going on with you.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I just looked at her, not saying anything with my expression. As usual when I was actually present, I had turned dragon training into a very short class. I felt kinda guilty that I was taking away from Gobber’s lesson plans, but in the end I didn’t mind. It gave me more time with Toothless.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As I left the arena, the rest of the teenagers hounded me for my secrets, asking about what I was doing for the last two days. I couldn’t tell them, because I wasn’t quite sure yet if they actually trusted me for doing something illegal. We all had been indoctrinated with the idea of killing dragons, but I had been the only one so far who had gone against that teaching. Could I trust them enough to spill the beans? Probably not, because if I blabbed in front of Astrid or Snotlout, Toothless would be as good as dead.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I’m hungry. Let’s get some lunch,” I suggested. They all followed me into the great hall, agog with questions and excitement.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I selected a cod and sat down with a mug of water. There was a raucous murmur as several people got up off their seats and shuffled over to me. Apparently, I had become a celebrity in Berk and didn’t even know it. The only person who didn’t come over was Astrid, who looked extremely jealous and sour. It was bizarre going from Hiccup to celebrity and having to deal with positive attention. Although, to be honest, I preferred it from Toothless. He never bore in on me like the rest of the Vikings.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“OKAY, BREAK IT UP!” a voice called. It was Gobber. “Let the boy have his lunch!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Thanks, Gobber,” I said as he passed by.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“You still owe me work from two days ago,” he noted. And he walked toward the back of the great hall and skewered a fish.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Great. Fine time for Gobber to remind me of my truancy. But I decided I didn’t care enough to help him in the armory. Not when there was an impatient Night Fury named Toothless waiting for me. And definitely not when there was flying to be done today. I finished my meal and walked out of the great hall like it was just another day. No hurry. I grabbed a basket from home, realizing that I had forgotten the last one in the cove. Eventually, I’d have to bring both of them back.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I carried the basket up to the back of the great hall, where the fish were supposed to be. But because there was someone “stealing” them, they were kept inside now. I crept inside to see whether I could nab a few before someone noticed. Just like yesterday morning, there was a pile of fish and several eels. Nobody was looking, so I slithered behind the pile with the basket and sifted through the eels to get fish for Toothless. I had the basket about halfway filled when a Viking came walking back toward me. I immediately crouched behind the pile of fish with the basket next to me. I was pretty sure he couldn’t see what I was doing.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">All of a sudden, the pile of fish shifted, revealing me with an open basket halfway filled with fish. I stood up and faced the Viking as he stopped whatever he was doing midstream. It was Spitelout. Again. I tried my hardest to hide the “busted” look that had plastered itself over my face and made a show of dumping the fish onto the existing pile.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Sorry, that was me bringing fish in,” I said, covering my theft.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Spitelout smiled and said, “A master dragon fighter like you, brining food in? You really are humble, aren’t you, Hiccup?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I smiled sheepishly and said, “Sure.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">He left without another thought. I left the basket in the great hall to keep anyone from becoming too suspicious. Since Berk was bustling with several Vikings milling around, I took a roundabout path through home to get to the forest.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As I entered the forest, I heard a sharp thwack. I stopped, trying to listen. After a few seconds, I heard a girl’s voice scream a battle cry, punctuated by another thwack. It was Astrid, I was sure of that. It wasn’t too hard to guess what she was practicing for.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I tried to sneak around her little area, watching her from a distance throw an axe into a tree and wedge it back out. She rolled and threw it into another tree. Wrenched the axe out and removed a few wooden shards. Whirled and threw it at yet another tree. She had this extreme focus I had only seen a handful of times.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I was mostly around Astrid’s little area when she burst out of the grass with her axe ready to throw. She saw me and stopped her arm just in time to keep the sharp weapon from flying directly into my forehead. I saw the look of surprise on her face, probably matching mine, but it told me that she didn’t expect to see me here.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I quickly broke our little staring contest and hurried to the longest path I had carved out toward the cove. I could hear her trying to follow me, trying to figure out what I was up to for the last few days. Unlike a typical Viking, Astrid knew her stuff about staying hidden and quiet when following someone. I ducked into the garlic grass nearby and crouched down about ten feet off of any beaten path. I had made sure to close the gap I had made so that Astrid wouldn’t expect to find me here. And hoped not to sneeze.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Maybe ten seconds had passed when I heard her jogging along the same path I had taken. I was grateful that I had startled her enough to get her to freeze for an instant. She looked around for a few seconds before hurrying along the path. Toward the cove. This was bad. If she found the entrance to the cove, Toothless was in deep trouble. She had an axe in her hand. The same axe I had “sharpened” several days ago. I stayed where I was, hoping she wouldn’t find anything of interest.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">About a minute after she had passed me, I heard her double back on a different path. Astrid apparently hadn’t found the entrance to our little cove. I heard her sigh in frustration, figuring she had gotten so close to finding out what I had been doing for the last few days. But it would have to wait. I couldn’t trust her yet.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I waited for a few minutes before continuing onward to the cove. Nobody followed me, so I ducked in underneath the shield that was still there. Crept down to the bottom level. Toothless was waiting.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Hey, Toothless,” I said as he bounded up to me. He was like a dog, just excited to see me every day. “You ready to go flying today?” His eyes shone with excitement and anticipation.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless already had his saddle and prosthetic tail fin on. No setup required today. Also today, there was no leather strap to tether us to the ground. Everything would have to be done experimentally. Fly a little bit, try something, land, write it down. This was going to be difficult. Toothless would probably get too excited, leaving me little room to actually learn how to fly. I’d have to learn as we went.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I put my hands on the saddle, and Toothless crouched without hesitation. I hooked up and said, “Let’s do this.” And tensed. Waiting.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless hunkered down and took off. Even though I was ready, I still panicked in getting a grip on the saddle. Maybe with enough practice, I’d be able to figure out his timing.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless pumped his wings, trying to get enough altitude to truly go somewhere. I kept guessing with the fin position, trying to remember where my foot was pointing so I could get a feel for what was going on. My base position was neutral, which correlated to the fin somewhere between spread out and collapsed, laying flat. Toothless didn’t seem to mind. He was gaining altitude quickly enough. I could fine-tune what I needed to do later.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Slowly, Toothless leveled out, giving me a chance to get my bearings. I was thankful Toothless was incredibly smart, because it seemed he was aware that I was learning to fly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Okay, buddy. Let’s take this nice and slow,” I said. “Let’s try, um, rolling out.” I clicked the ratchet, rolling my left foot outwards. Glanced back at the tail fin. Turned down. Toothless was losing altitude and control. No good. Immediately, I clicked through neutral to rolled in. Tail fin turned up, Toothless leveled out and regained control. Good. “It’s go time,” I said to no one in particular.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless turned right in a wide bank. I clicked the ratchet to toe-up. Tail fin spread completely out. Toothless was losing control, so I moved back to neutral. Wide bank accomplished.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless seemed a little impatient today. We were pretty high up, so he decided to dive toward the open ocean. This has disaster written all over it, I thought. But I guessed I didn’t have too much of a say in the matter. In fact, I cheered Toothless on, screaming, “Come on, buddy!” Clicked to toe-down. Tail fin collapsed. Toothless shot toward the water’s surface in what had gone past “dive” status. We had probably reached “stoop” status by now. The sound of air rushing past me was almost deafening. Tears were building in my eyes as we hit maximum speed. But I couldn’t think of anything more exhilarating. Thankfully, Toothless pulled out of the dive/stoop just before the water met us, and I immediately clicked back to neutral. We leveled out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods that I survived so far. But Toothless was far from finished. He wanted more. More flight. More speed.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Can you slow down a bit, bud?” I yelled over the rushing wind. Toothless either wasn’t listening or didn’t hear me. No response. He threw me into the deep end, kinda like Gobber did that first day of dragon training.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I was focusing on where my foot should be, probably a little too intently. I heard Toothless give a short roar. Sounded like a warning. He was speeding right for a rock spire just in front of us. Uh oh, I thought. I felt Toothless try to bank to his right. I was too slow on the uptake and tried to figure out what to do to actually get him turning right. I rolled my foot out, extending the tail fin down slightly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless crashed into the rock spire, thinking quickly enough to use his legs to deaden the blow. I heard him skreel in frustration.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Sorry, bud!” I called.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">He crashed into another rock, only this time it was his side that took the blow. No feet to cushion anything. I could hear and feel some of the breath get knocked out of Toothless as he crashed. He grunted and spread his wings out, slowing flight down a little.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“That’s my fault. Sorry Toothless!” He just whuffed in irritation. I clicked back to neutral, seeing that our flight had leveled out. It was serene flying over the water like this. I bet no Viking had ever experienced this before.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“OW!” I felt a sharp blow to the right side of my face. Toothless had just whipped his head and smacked me with one of his ear fins. I didn’t need to irritate him anymore, so any flight that happened from here on out would have to be perfect. Great. “Yeah, yeah. I’m on it,” I said. I guessed I didn’t really have a choice anyway. Just follow Toothless’s lead and do my best not to mess up. Or else.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless banked upwards, so I clicked out. Slow rise. Needed to go faster. Clicked forward. Faster rise. We were in business.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless pumped his wings trying to reach the sky. We were moving almost vertically. I was hanging on for dear life, but still watching Toothless’s expression. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth. At this moment in time, Toothless was the happiest dragon anyone had ever seen. I could hear and feel his breaths coming in sharp gasps from working so hard. But he seemed to enjoy reaching for the sky, so I let him go until he felt good enough to float back down to earth and land softly so I could kiss the ground for being alive.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Except that didn’t happen. Toothless stalled in the air, preparing for a U-turn back toward the open ocean. I could feel it happen. The loops that kept me secured to the saddle slipped out of their hooks. And I was floating in the air with nothing to hang onto. Toothless was a foot out of my reach.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“TOOTHLESS!” I screamed. “STOP!” But it was too late. Toothless felt me leave his back. To make matters worse, my little cheat sheet had slipped out of its mount at the front of the saddle. I needed that thing to help me figure out what to do. I grabbed it just before it could take off in the wind.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Both of us hung in the air for a split second before beginning the long plummet back to the ocean. Toothless gave a short bleat of fear as he started downwards. He had no control over his flight anymore, unless I hooked back in.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“COME ON, TOOTHLESS! YOU’VE GOT TO ANGLE YOURSELF A LITTLE BETTER! COME ON, CLOSER!” I shouted.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless went into what looked like a flat spin as he fell to earth. He was panicking too much. I had to take the initiative before we became minced meat.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“OW!” I shouted as his tail smacked me in the face. That blow sent me further away from him than I needed. I had to reach for the saddle as he was turning in midair. Closer, closer, I kept thinking. My hand brushed the edge of his saddle before it slipped out of reach again. But it was coming around again, thanks to Toothless’s spinning. The second time, I grabbed onto the side and went on a spin with Toothless, trying to hold onto my cheat sheet with my left hand and hold on to life with my right. I jammed the cheat sheet into my mouth and grabbed onto the other side of Toothless’s saddle before hooking in. I slammed my foot into the stirrup and clicked to toe-up. Tail fin spread out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless immediately spread his wings to slow his descent, but we were moving way too quickly. Toward a massive outcropping of rocks. There were too many spires, ledges and overhangs for us to dodge, but we had no other choice. Toothless shrieked in panic as he saw he couldn’t slow down enough to avoid our doom. I could see air condensing off of his wingtips, meaning we were moving way too fast downwards for anything else to matter.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I ripped the cheat sheet out of my mouth and looked at it. The wind was blowing it shut, and there was no way I could unfold it. Looked up again. Those rocks were dead in front of us. I couldn’t afford time to look at the sheet and decide. I tossed it behind us and leaned forward, my chest almost on the saddle.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Clicked to neutral. No more losing altitude. Rolled out. Toothless went vertical on his left side, narrowly avoiding a spire. Neutral. Level. Rolled in. Toothless rose to his right a little, avoiding a crashing wave. Neutral. Toe-down. Underneath an overhang. Rolled out. Vertical again. Toe-up. Slow rise, avoiding another wave. Click. Click. Click. We were in sync. Toothless barrel rolled to avoid a final spire as we crossed underneath a large stone arch.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I looked up, knowing there was nothing in front of us except water. We were outracing several seagulls above us. Looked forward. Open water.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“YEEEEEEAAAH!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, sitting up straight, arms outstretched. Toothless was just as excited and shot a fireball in front of himself. It exploded about two seconds later, enveloping us in a cloud of fire and heat.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Oh, come on,” I said in disbelief. My shoulders slumped and I tried to duck underneath the fire, but couldn’t quite make it in time. I could feel my face tingling and my hair getting singed. Getting stuck in a slicked-back position. “Did you really need to do that?” I asked him as we flew, still together.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless landed neatly on a small island with a lake. I could barely make out Berk in the distance. We found that the lake was teeming with fish, so Toothless went to work on catching a meal or two. I dismounted and thought about making a fire. Gathered several sticks and one that was sharp enough to be a skewer. By the time I had gotten back to the lake, Toothless had a large collection of about twenty fish in front of him. He was happy about his next meal. Slowly, I crept forward to sneak a fish away. Toothless let me grab one, watching me the entire time. He never showed any sign that he wanted the fish back. Maybe it was his way of repaying me for all the meals I had given him over the last week. I skewered it and then set up the sticks into a pyramid for fire.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless immediately figured out what I was up to, because he edged forward and lit the pyramid with a continuous stream of fire, not unlike that first evening we met. When I had given him a fish. When we touched for the first time. “Thanks, bud,” I said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless grabbed a fish with his mouth, bit in half and swallowed. “You’d better not,” I warned him. I sat down next to him and started cooking my fish, ready for a nice hot meal. Toothless began gagging. I could hear him trying to regurgitate part of the fish. And that’s exactly what he did. The front half of the fish came sliding out of his mouth, followed by a long trail of dragon saliva. I rolled my eyes in disgust.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Uh, no thanks. I’m good, buddy,” I said as he looked at me expectantly. Toothless shook his head a little and got to work on his meal. I waited until my fish had a slightly charred look. By then it would be thoroughly cooked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless perked and began growling after I had taken a few bites. “What is it?” I asked. “Do you want this fish back?” But he wasn’t focused on me. He protectively gathered his pile of fish, trying to make sure someone wouldn’t take it. His growling intensified. I had no idea what he was on.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Within seconds, three Terrible Terrors landed in front of us, grunting and snarling at each other. One of them, a green dragon, quickly snagged the half fish that Toothless wanted me to have. Toothless snapped at it, causing it to drop the morsel, but a brown Terror snatched up the fish. Toothless snapped again, but the little brown dragon wasn’t daunted. It hissed at Toothless, allowing the green dragon to resteal its food. It dragged the half fish away and sat up, looking around. It glanced at me and saw I wasn’t a threat to its food. The brown dragon came back and tried to re-resteal the fish, but the green Terror snarled. I could feel it. A skirmish was about to start. The tension in the air was palpable…well, about as intense as it gets when two small, fire-breathing lizards square off. The green dragon kept snarling, doing some kind of pushups, trying to frighten the brown dragon. But the brown Terror wasn’t fazed. It sucked in a quick breath and blasted a stream of fire at the green Terror. The green dragon immediately backed away from the flames, and the little brown dragon finally had its meal. The green dragon flew off towards the lake.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I was just sitting there with a few bites missing from my fish. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to laugh or try to protect my meal like Toothless was doing. But while the show was going on, another Terror, this one a dingy red, had crept into Toothless’s pile of fish. It snagged one and backed out, alerting Toothless. He grunted and his eyes opened in surprise, watching the fish inexplicably moving on its own. When he saw the Terror, he lunged at the fish and pulled it out of the red Terror’s mouth. The tail broke off, leaving a small fin sticking out of the little dragon’s mouth, while Toothless gulped down what was rightfully his fish. Just the little red dragon didn’t know it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless made a series of noises that sounded to me like several short gasps. It took me a few seconds to realize he was laughing at the Terrible Terror. He must have hit on the wrong note for that dragon, because the Terror snarled and clawed at the ground in a show of intimidation, kicking up small gouts of sand. But since Toothless was, oh, maybe thirty times this dragon’s size, it didn’t really work. He just stared at the little dragon complacently.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Terror sucked in a breath and got ready to fire. Toothless immediately shot a small fireball into the Terror’s mouth. Within one second, the little dragon inflated like a balloon, hopped a few feet into the air and collapsed back down on earth, deflating. It staggered away from the Night Fury who had just put on a demoralizing show. Toothless turned back to his fish and started eating like nothing had happened. To him, Terrible Terrors weren’t really the most important thing to worry about.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Huh. Not so fireproof on the inside,” I observed. I snagged a small fish just outside of Toothless’s pile and tossed it over to the defeated Terror. “Here ya go, little guy.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon perked and swallowed the fish before anything else could happen to it. Like a Night Fury. It looked at me and made a churring noise. Took a few steps and stopped. Looked at me again. Took a few more steps. Looked again. I wasn’t moving. I wasn’t sure what this dragon was after, but it was taking its time heading in my direction. It was maybe two feet from my left hand. I kept still, trying to make sure the dragon wouldn’t attack me like what happened to Tuffnut.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">A few more steps and the dragon was between my hand and Toothless’s back foot. It slithered under my left hand and curled up against my left leg. Its way of saying thanks for the food. The little dragon relaxed and started to fall asleep. I could feel its heart beating, its breaths coming and going quickly. I had only given this little dragon a fish, and now I was its friend for the afternoon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I stole a glance at Toothless who just looked back at me. Behind his eyes, I saw his approval. I stroked the Terrible Terror’s side, noting that it wasn’t so terrible after all. One fish, and the dragon was now a Not-So-Terrible Terror. “Everything we know about you guys…is wrong,” I said to the air in front of me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I continued eating my fish, tossing the unwanted portions into the fire, where it immediately blackened and sizzled audibly. Toothless finished his meal and curled slightly around me and the Terrible Terror with a relaxed sigh. He put his head on his front paws and looked up at me. His eyes were round, and his breathing sounded like the bellows in the armory. “You’re amazing, Toothless,” I whispered. I stroked his cheek with my right hand, listening to him rumble quietly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I sat next to Toothless with the Terror resting under my left hand for the afternoon. This was really too peaceful. Berk and any problems I might have had there were in the distance, my best friend was a happy dragon, and I had apparently made another friend too. Nothing to bother us. The three of us relaxed, watching the sky slowly change colors.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">_______________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Toothless nudged my arm gently as the sun was falling, telling me to get back to Berk. I stood up, seeing that the Terror had noticed I wasn’t there anymore. No more human to shield it from a Night Fury. The little red dragon stood up, stretched and made some kind of grunting sound before flying off. I climbed on Toothless’s back and he took off.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 This time around, there were no acrobatics. Toothless knew he had to get back to the cove. We were flying high enough not to cause trouble on Berk, but I noticed something different. There was one ship heading toward Berk. It had only one sail left and was almost sunk from damage. My father was back…after a week? Normally it took two for this kind of expedition.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">A pang of realization stabbed me in the gut. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hide Toothless. We flew over Berk toward the cove and landed neatly. He didn’t know that I was about to run into problems keeping him a secret. All he knew was that we were able to fly today. Finally, but on the day my father got back. I felt sorry for Toothless, knowing that my time with him was probably limited now. Not just when I could visit him. But when the rest of Berk would find out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 When the rest of Berk would find out. It was always in the back of my mind, but until my father returned, I never had paid it attention. I knew when I truly met him on that evening we first touched I was never going to turn back. I had known this entire week that my friendship with Toothless was hopeless thanks to the rest of Berk not understanding. They would relish the opportunity to kill him. Like I should have done that first day. I could think of a thousand reasons why I should have killed him. I couldn’t come up with a single reason why I let him go. Why I befriended him. Why I helped him fly again. But I did anyway. Logic was screaming at me, telling me this friendship was doomed from the start. But I didn’t care. Even if the time was fleeting, Toothless was the best gift I had ever received.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “See you tomorrow, buddy” I told him, trying to hide the anxiousness in my voice. I rubbed the side of his head, listening to him rumble softly. For him, there couldn’t have been a better day.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I left the cove and crept back toward Berk. The Vikings who didn’t join my father’s little expedition were already waiting at the docks. Judging by the size of the ship, it was going to tie up within about five minutes.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Over the years, I had found several ways to hide underneath the wooden slats leading from the docks to mainland Berk. I used one of them to slither underneath a bridge and hid in the shadows. I was far enough away to keep from attracting attention, but close enough to hear what people were saying.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 The ship docked as the crew disembarked, all of them looking worn out and disheveled. My father was the last to leave the ship. He looked at it and asked Gobber, “Do you think we can fix it?” His voice was too solemn to say he found the dragons’ island.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “It’ll probably take a week,” Gobber said. He picked up on my father’s mood and asked, “Okay, Stoick, what happened?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “We lost two ships in one hour looking for that Thor-forsaken nest. We had to turn back after that.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Did you lose any men?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “All of them are here. That was the only good thing about this stupid trip. I hope you had more luck on your end.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Well, if by that you mean your parenting troubles are over, then yes.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">At this moment several villagers bounded down toward the docks congratulating my father. He received compliments like, “Congratulations, Stoick! Everyone is so relieved.” “Out with the old and in with the new!” “That’s the last time we’ll be seeing any of that helpless little runt again!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">My father just looked at Gobber. “He…he’s gone?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber stroked his chin, thinking. “Every afternoon. But who could blame him? The life of a celebrity is very difficult around here. He can hardly walk around Berk without being noticed by his new legions of fans.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Gobber, you’re lying. This is Hiccup we’re talking about, right?” He and Gobber started walking inland.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Who would have thought it? Hiccup just has this…this way with the beasts.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Have you been paying attention to where he goes?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“No. Nobody can follow him, and he won’t tell anyone. He just disappears when we don’t have training.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Has he given you any trouble?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber paused in thought for a bit. “You know, Hiccup always seems to make the dragon training courses extra-short. Especially after he figured it out.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“What are you saying?” my father asked as they walked directly above me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Oh, Hiccup was helpless at first, just like you said he would be. But one day, he just became an expert. D’you think it’s because I can teach that well?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">My father paused in thought. “Maybe. We’ll see tomorrow.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">"We'll see tomorrow, indeed," Gobber said chuckling. "I'm certain it'll be either Hiccup or Astrid. Our Elder will decide who gets to kill their first dragon tomorrow."

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber continued walking as my father stopped and stood in shock. His own awkward son, the talk of the town. The positive talk of the town.

<p style="text-align: center;">_______________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I waited for the Vikings to return home, and then trudged my way back to Berk from the docks in silence. After seeing my father return today, I wanted to run to the cove to protect Toothless. Even though he was perfectly healthy today. I didn’t go to the cove though. Without thinking, my feet took me to the armory. I shuffled in, looking at the anvil and bellows we used for blacksmithing. My eyes focused on the bellows. I blew them once, watching the coals turn from dull red to vivid orange. I thought about how similar the bellows sounded to Toothless’s breathing. I turned toward the back of the armory and started walking. Brushed back the leather hang to my little drawing room. Stepped in. Closed the curtain and flopped into my seat, resting my head and arms on the board with a sigh. I flipped a pencil up my drawing board. The slant brought it back down to me. I had no idea what to make of this situation. I had been putting off showing Toothless to the rest of Berk. I thought I’d have plenty of time to get him tame enough to show the teens and then bring Gobber over. It wasn’t serious yesterday, but this evening had given it a violent shove into deadly serious.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I felt like I was going to hurl. Or cry. Or scream. I flipped the pencil again. It came back down to me. Flip. Roll. Flip. Roll. Reset because it canted off to the side a little. Flip. Roll.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">A scraping sound caught my attention. Probably Gobber looking for something. I kept my attention on the drawing board two inches in front of my nose. The leather hang brushed back and seven feet two inches of Viking stepped in. My father, a.k.a. Stoick the Vast.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Dad!” I shouted probably too loudly, jumping up straight. My sheets of parchment were strewn all over the place. Most of them had detailed Night Fury sketches. I had several pages that I thought might have been Book of Dragons worthy, containing information about how a Night Fury behaved, or how to keep from getting blasted. I tried to hide all the information from him as discreetly as I could, saying, “Uh, Gobber’s not here right now.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I know. I came looking for you.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Y-you did?” I was still trying to hide parchment from him. He had a very clear view of several Night Fury drawings. If he saw one of those…

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">He fixed me with a glare and said, “Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Uh, what are you trying to say…?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Let’s talk. About your dragon.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">He saw it. A Night Fury sketch. Toothless was about to be dead. I couldn’t hide the obvious look of guilt on my face. “Oh, no. It’s all so messed up. I…I should have told you earlier about this, just…”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had stopped because my father started to bray with laughter. I had never seen him this happy before. “What!? I was hoping for this!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“You…you were?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yes! Oh, sixteen years of the worst Viking Berk had ever seen! Odin, it was rough! But all this time you’d been holding out on me! Oh, Thor almighty!” He gave me a playful shove, sending me a few feet back into a large basket holding parchment scraps.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I was?” I had no idea what he was on. “I…have no…idea…what you’re…talking about…” I stammered. He was either happy that I had trained a dragon, or he had a different idea.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“And believe me, it only gets better from here!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Um, okay? What am I missing?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Just think of the feeling you’re going to get when you spill a Nadder’s guts for the first time! Or when you mount your first Gronckle head.” He smiled in elation.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Oh. I didn’t even have to wriggle out of this situation. He still had no idea about Toothless, even though several sketches were staring him right in the face.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“With you doing so well in the ring, now we’ll have plenty to talk about.” He had this excitedly expectant look on his face, subliminally telling me that I needed to describe all of the events that I had been through in the arena. But they were all tricks. Lies. Ideas that I had learned by paying attention to Toothless. He sidled closer to me, ready for a boatload of information. I looked off to the side, not wanting to meet his stare. He was boring in on me, and I was holding out on him, like I was hiding a newborn grandchild from him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“It’s…okay if you don’t want to tell me now, son,” my father said after a long wait. “We can talk about it later.” He stood up to leave, but stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot. I, uh, wanted you to have this.” He produced a helmet with two horns on either side, not unlike his own. “Take good care of it.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I took the helmet from his hands gently, not wanting to defile it by dropping it or scratching it. “For me? Thanks, Dad.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had my hand on top of the crown, feeling for the first time the metal that would be protecting my head. “It was your mother’s. Half of her breastplate.” My hand shot off the metal like it was orange-hot. Is that seriously where my father got his helmet from too? “Matching set,” he said, pointing to his own helmet. “Keeps her close, you know.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I didn’t know what to say. Should I have thanked him for the helmet or whined about wearing half of a breastplate? Another awkward silence fell between us. I broke it by faking a yawn. “Oh, I’m tired. I think I’ll get some sleep.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Okay,” my father said without hesitation. I was pretty sure he was still excited about me learning how to fight dragons. “Good talk. I’ll see you in the morning.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yes, and thanks for the, uh, breast-hat. ‘Night, Dad.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Good night, Hiccup.” And with that he made to leave, bonking his helmet on one of the rafters. “See you in the morning,” he said as he adjusted his helmet. He brushed back the leather hang and walked out. I watched my father put his hands on his hips and breathe a massive sigh. He took one step to the left and crashed into several shields, which toppled in a heap with a raucous clatter.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I’ll take care of those,” I called after him. I really didn’t want my father to see what I had been up to. Not only to rain on his crazy belief that I was a good dragon fighter, but also to keep Toothless away from him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I sighed and sat back down at my drawing board, my face buried in my arms. Every passing minute brought more worry about Toothless. I organized the sheets of parchment and put them away in case someone came back. That was too close to having my own father, the most gung-ho dragon fighter on Berk, discover the Night Fury I had been keeping a secret for the last week. After arranging the papers, I stared at a blank wooden surface. I couldn’t go back home. My secret was too close to the surface. But my father was home now. I couldn’t be truant with him like I had done to Gobber. My father was much less lenient with me. I had no choice but to walk home.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I arranged the shields and walked into my own house. My father was already fast asleep after a long journey. I climbed upstairs, avoiding the fifth step to keep him from waking, and slid into bed. I just hoped I could get up earlier than him. Spend a little bit of time with Toothless before the final dragon fighting class.

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">The final day was going to be just me and Astrid against a dragon. Whoever did best would have the “honor” of killing a dragon in front of Berk. All I could think of was how that dragon was going to be Toothless. How they would find him and shackle him into a pen. How I would win the final day of training. And how I would have to kill my best friend in front of the rest of Berk.