Third-person Hiccup: “Okay, I shot a Night Fury,” Hiccup muttered awkwardly, the words hanging in the frigid air. He’d bungled it again, and now faced the full, simmering wrath of Berk’s villagers. Stoick’s grip on his son’s fur coat was brutal. “It’s not like the last few times, Dad! I actually hit it!” Hiccup strained to point towards Raven Point, desperate to secure a search party before the dragon succumbed. “It fell… let’s get out there before it—”
“STOP!” Stoick’s voice boomed, releasing his hold. “Every time you venture outside, disaster follows. Don’t you see I have bigger problems?” The words felt like a physical blow. Hiccup flinched. *Bigger than your own son?* he thought bitterly as Stoick continued, “Winter is almost here, and I have an entire village to feed!” Hiccup, unable to meet his father’s gaze, mumbled, “Between you and me, I think the village could do with a little less feeding, don’t you think?” A wave of groans rippled through the crowd, punctuated by glares. Stoick’s face flushed crimson. “This isn’t a joke, Hiccup! Why can’t you just stay home like I told you?”
“Dad, I can’t help it! When I see a dragon, I just have to…” He mimed a neck-breaking gesture with his hands. “Kill it, you know? It’s just… who I am.”
“Oh,” Stoick sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. “You are many things, Hiccup, but a dragon slayer is not one of them.” The words stung. Hiccup felt a familiar ache in his chest. “Get back to the house.” He then turned to Gobber, his trusted friend and village blacksmith. “And make sure he gets there.”
* * *
“He never listens!”
“Uhu, runs in the family.”
“And when he does, it’s with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimmed off all the meat in his sandwich,” Hiccup mimicked Stoick, gesturing as if a baby lay in a crib. “Excuse me, barmaid! I believe you brought me the wrong offspring! I wanted an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side. This here,” he tapped the floor, “this is a talking fishbone!” The words tasted bitter, but the release of anger felt strangely liberating.
Gobber, seeing the pain beneath Hiccup’s sarcasm, offered a gruff kindness. “Listen, Hiccup, it’s not about what you look like. It’s what’s inside that he can’t stand.”
Hiccup’s face twisted in disbelief. “Thank you for summing that up.” He turned towards the door, and Gobber quickly added, “The point is, stop trying to be something you’re not.” Defeated, Hiccup turned back to Gobber, his voice barely a whisper. “I just want to be one of you guys.” He clenched his fist, a silent vow forming in his mind. “I’ll prove to you all that I took down a Night Fury!”
* * *
‘I can kill dragons, I can kill dragons!’ Hiccup thought, raising his dagger high. ‘I can do this, I HAVE to do this, I have to prove myself.’ He glanced at the dragon’s eye, then shook his head. ‘NO! I HAVE to do this!’ He heard a moan and a thud. *Did the dragon faint? Could it be as scared as me?* His arms fell. He stared at the trapped creature, horror rising in his throat. “I did this.” He turned to leave, then stopped. ‘I can’t leave him like this…’ He took a breath and did the unthinkable: he cut the dragon loose.
* * *
“Remember, dragons will always,” Gobber bent closer to Hiccup, “Always, go for the kill.” He pulled Hiccup to his feet and walked out of the arena. Stoick had informed Hiccup that he would begin dragon training. Though he tried to dissuade him, Stoick had made up his mind. “You must walk like us, and talk like us, and think like us, no more of…” he gestured dismissively at Hiccup. “This.”
Now, Hiccup had to deal with the sniggering of the other teens and his own restless thoughts. The Night Fury had pinned him; it was about to strike, but then simply roared and flew off. When he replayed the encounter with the Gronkle, the dragon hadn’t hesitated to blast him with fire. So it left him to wonder, ‘Why didn’t it? Why didn’t the Night Fury?’
* * *
Hiccup entered the cove, shield and fish in hand. The shield lodged between two rocks, refusing to budge. ‘Please don’t kill me,’ he thought as he walked deeper into the Night Fury’s territory. The dragon watched his every move from behind a boulder. He crept forward, then whipped around to face the dragon. He sniffed the air, adopting a defensive stance. He held out the fish as far as he could. The dragon’s eyes narrowed, then widened again, sensing the dagger. He pushed his fur aside, reaching for it defensively. The dragon growled, and Hiccup jumped. He grabbed the dagger with two fingers and dropped it. The dragon motioned for him to throw it into the lake. He did, kicking the fish into the water. As suddenly as the dagger sank, the dragon sat down, its eyes squaring once more. Hiccup held out the fish again. It moved forward and opened its toothless maw. “Huh, Toothless, I could have sworn you had—” The dragon’s teeth suddenly appeared, snatching up the fish, causing Hiccup to recoil.
“—teeth,” he finished, stunned. The dragon slowly advanced towards him. Fearing it was still hungry, Hiccup backed away. “Um, no, no… no, I- I don’t have anymore,” he stammered, hitting a boulder. The dragon stood over him and started… gagging? Then, half the fish fell into his lap.
The dragon forced Hiccup to eat, swallow, and enjoy the raw, regurgitated fish. Hiccup did everything it wanted. When he smiled, Toothless tried to smile in return. But when Hiccup reached for him, the dragon growled and shot off. He made an area to lay down and looked over. He saw Hiccup and moved his tail fin in front of his face. Hiccup moved closer to touch the dragon. Sensing his action, Toothless lifted his tail fin to see Hiccup acting innocent and stalked awkwardly away. The dragon then moved to a tree and hung upside down to sleep.
Toothless opened his eyes, expecting to see the Viking trying, once again, to touch him. Instead, he found him sitting on a rock with a stick. He walked over and sat next to the human. He saw it was drawing a picture of him! ‘I bet I could draw too!’ Toothless thought and ripped off a giant branch. He started to draw random lines around Hiccup.
When Toothless felt done, he nodded at his ‘masterpiece.’ Hiccup looked around, started walking. He accidentally stepped on the dragon’s artwork, which caused him to growl. Hiccup winced and immediately lifted his foot. The dragon went back to friendly. Hiccup placed his foot back down, and the dragon went into defense again. He lifted and placed his foot a few more times until the dragon looked as though he was going to pounce on him. Then he stepped over the line. Hiccup smiled at the satisfying grunt the dragon made and cautiously stepped until he made his way out of the dragon’s work of art. Suddenly, he felt a hot breath ruffle his hair, which caused him to turn around and back a bit. He lifted his hand to touch the dragon a few times; each attempt was met with a warning growl from Toothless. Finally, giving up, Hiccup turned his head and opened his hand. What he didn’t see was that the dragon’s eyes widened a little at the trust the runty Viking displayed. Hesitantly, the dragon pushed his snout into Hiccup’s hand. They had gained each other’s trust.
* * *
Hiccup worked late at the forge, Gobber’s words echoing in his mind: “Its the wings and the tails you really want. If it can’t fly, it can’t get away. A downed dragon is a dead one.” He couldn’t let his new and only friend die, especially because of him. So, he realized he needed to make another tail fin for Toothless. When he was satisfied, he would bring it early that morning.