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A pink, orange, and a deep blue sunset sky dimly lit Berk. The last portions of sunlight filtering through tree leaves as the cold sea shimmered- along with Toothless’ dark scales. They landed in the cove after an exciting—though also exhaustingly long and vigorous—flight. It was much later than they usually stayed in the clouds, but with the way Toothless’ prosthetic had been working recently, it was all worth the way Hiccup’s eyes drooped when he dismounted. Another session in the sky well done.
The half-eaten basket of fish from before they’d taken off hours ago immediately caught the dragon’s attention, leaving hiccup to think and fidget with his flying outfit.
The tail fin needed just a bit of tightening here and there, maybe a few re-adjustments, but it was nearly perfect! The saddle was snug and comfortable on both him and toothless.
Mentally trying to stabilize and feel the ground beneath his feet, Hiccup felt disconnected. The transition between the free sky to solid ground made him feel suffocated—downed. Grounded in the worst way, which was strange since he’d grown up and lived on said suffocating rock and dirt his whole life. Well, once you experience something better- the old normal just isn’t the same- is it.
Watching Toothless ravenously eat made Hiccup’s hunger-induced nausea certainly apparent. He fished out a bit of bread from his satchel, and took a bit without much real thought. The cold and slightly stale texture didn’t exactly help with the nausea, but at least something was in his stomach. He heard the basket be thrown aside, empty. Soon after, Toothless lied down on the ground, content with the flying they’d done and ready to sleep.
And to be honest… Hiccup was ready to pass out too.
“Hey bud, mind if I join you?” Hiccup came up to his best friend, half eaten bread in hand. The night fury’s ears flicked, and those bright green eyes stared at him. He warbled, and stretched just a bit for there to be somewhere for Hiccup to comfortably sit against him.
Hiccup unconsciously rubbed his eye. “Thanks, Tooth.” He said, and he clumsily sat down, leaning against his dragon’s warm scales.
He took a couple bites out of the apple with his eyes itching to close. Just how long had they been flying? Must’ve been hours… so many loop-de-loops… fire rings left his hair darkened in some spots with soot.
He took another bite, letting his eyes wander around the nature before him. This was basically home base by now for the two of them. It was a place where he could truly just be. Toothless always let him be just Hiccup here. No expectations, no yelling or Viking-like customs that he honestly would rather choke than have to do. This was great. Everything he had right now… was great.
He relaxed further into his friend’s side, Toothless warbling at him.
“‘M not gonna fall asleep, Toothless. I’m just… my eyes just need a little break, ‘Kay?”
Toothless simply sharply snorted out of his nose, and laid his head down near Hiccup’s hand. Hiccup picked up his hand and placed it gently on the night fury’s head. Warm…
The bread was never finished.
“Gobber!” Stoick called out, turning a corner through the village. He peered into the crevices—even if the man in question could never fit into them- and the open spaces
“Stoick!” Gobber called, unaware of the other calling for him as well. He turned a corner-
BANG!!
“Ouch-“ Gobber rubbed his head, an eye closed from the stinging pain. “Stoick?”
Stoick wasn’t necessarily hurt- but he was surprised. “What in the name of Thor- Ah, Gobber!”
“Stoick-“ Gobber began.
“Where’s Hiccup?” They said in unison.
…
They stared at each other.
Stoick’s eyebrows furrowed. “Wait- you don’t know? I was hoping you’d seen the lad. He hasn’t come home.” Stoick put his hands on his hips. Gobber mimicked him as well as he could with his hook hand.
“I thought you knew where he was! Kid forgot his journal at dragon training. I know he goes into the woods to get away as soon as the gate opens- but he almost never leaves this little thing behind.” Gobber held it up.
“The woods? What does he go into the woods for?” Stoick took the book. He looked at it, tilting and flipping it around- and noticed that it seemed so very strange to see it without Hiccup present. Gobber was right, this journal was important to him.
“Not a clue. Astrid tried following him in once. Only report I got from that endeavor was her grumbling about him disappearing.”
Stoick ran a hand down his wild beard. “It’s well past the time he usually comes home. You don’t think something happened to him, do you?” Stoick said, his voice a whisper, trying to limit any gossip that any night-favoring Viking could start.
“Knowing Hiccup? Definitely. But knowing the new Hiccup… I’m…not sure.” Gobber put his hook hand up to his chin in thought.
The two friends stood around. Neither were thrilled by the idea of going out into the forest in the dead of night to find hiccup- but neither would be able to live the same if something had happened to the boy.
So…
“We have to find ‘im, don’t we.” Gobber said blankly.
“Yep.” Stoick replied, looking off at the woods. “Come on.” He rolled his shoulders, and ran off, Gobber trailing behind him.
“Well… if you say so.”
Stoick pushed past a troublesome branch that seemed to have it out for him, Gobber getting immediately hit in the face with it when Stoick finally got past.
“Wow, thank you, Stoick.” Gobber said, brushing dirt off of his face.
“So it was you that taught Hiccup all that sarcasm?” He said accusingly.
“Eh, maybe! Must’ve picked it up from working with me in the forge.” Gobber shrugged, getting past the darned tree branch. “Since he was only three winters old when you made me start babysitting the wee lad.”
Stoick chuckled. “Back when he got into no trouble at all. I miss those days.”
“Ah, every parent does, Stoick. But there’s lots to appreciate about the boy now.” Gobber said, not necessarily looking away, but not trying to look at Stoick directly.
“You mean dragon training? Gobber…” Stoick sighed as dead sticks crunched underneath his feet. “He’s excelling in training now- I know- but it still feels like there’s a rift between us. A rift I thought would just-“ he gestured largely with his arms, “disappear once ‘e finally got into the ring.”
“Well, ‘ave you tried talking to ‘im?”
“Oh no, Gobber. I’ve been just standing around like a mindless yak during every late talk.”
Gobber brushed a bug off of his arm as they continued through the woods. Still no sign of said Viking… “Hm, no—I think the sarcasm was genetic.”
“Oh, shut it, Gobber.” Stoick said, though he then snickered under his breath.
Gobber laughed, ignoring the way that worry seeped into his gut. They should’ve found him by now… “I meant talk to the true Hiccup. You’ve been trying to talk to a normal Viking. Hiccup is unique, Stoick! His tactics in the ring are unheard of, and he just isn’t like the other children. Have you taken the time to just… learn?….About your own son?”
Stoick looked over his shoulder at Gobber. “What tactics-“ he suddenly stopped as a pine tree branch whipped into his eyes. He shouted in pain as it made a loud whacking noise, and he angrily tore it out of the tree. Gobber couldn’t help but laugh and point like one of the Nut twins at a catastrophe.
“Ha-ha. Very… funny.” Stoick’s voice trailed off as he looked at something close up ahead. Gobber’s laugh faded, and he came closer to see what could have possibly caught Stoick’s attention. And well, it was something all right.
A large tree was splintered, it having fallen downhill. Now, when Gobber looked down it, there was a crater of a path, something had happened here. What could’ve done such a thing?
“Gobber, where are we?”
“Ah let me see- er- just off Raven’s Point, why?”
Something in Stoick changed. His eyes widened, and he wore that shellshocked expression he made when something was truly, truly wrong.
“Stoick? What’s the matter?”
“Gobber.” Stoick said, eyes stuck to the dug out earth. “A month ago. Hiccup claimed he shot down a night fury.” He said, his voice wheezy. Gobber snickered weakly, unsure of why he’d bring that shit-show up now.
“He says that all the time, Stoick!”
“Just…off of Ravens point.” Stoick put a hand on the splintered tree, and Gobber’s heart dropped to his stomach.
“He… he stopped claiming that a while ago. Didn’t he. Thought the boy had just been too busy to cause that ruckus, but…” He said lowly. Were they really considering the possibility? The possibility that Hiccup shot down a night fury? It was outrageous!…
However… considering how Hiccup did in dragon training…
No, that was before training even started! Hiccup may have his way with the beasts, but he had no such way with a bola!
“Let’s say… he did shoot it down. And it caused all of… this.” He gestured to the ground. “If he’d approached it, we wouldn’t be looking for him today now, would we!” He argued lightly, trying to dismiss the thought. The air was different when Stoick was on edge like he currently was.
Stoick’s head snapped to look directly at the end of the tree. He suddenly began to move again, trudging through the dirt quickly, like one of his people were in danger just behind that boulder.
Gobber was about to quickly run over to meet up with his Chief, but noticed his peg leg was stuck in the dirt and leaves. He pulled it out, and by the time he’d freed himself- Stoick had seen something. Something wrong.
“Thor almighty...” He said under his breath. Gobber ran over, stumbling slightly, when he found both the Chief, and a torn bola.
The bola was in pieces. Short and long bits of rope were everywhere on the forest floor. Gobber kneeled the best he could, holding one up. There was something strange about it, however.
The ropes didn’t look torn. They were cut by something with precision. Like a knife. Knowing dragons, there was no way a dragon—let alone a downed one—could make a clean cut. Though the ropes did look a bit on the older side. Maybe a month or two? The severed ropes could’ve just been taken over by nature.
Stoick stood up, Gobber mimicking him.
“This way.” He said with a cold determination. He began to speed walk straight down the path that the tree was practically pointing to.
“Wait, aren’t we looking for Hiccup?!” Gobber said, trying to catch up.
“No time. If there is a night fury on this island, we need it dead. Now.”
They were now deep into the forest, in a spot that Gobber had found way back in his childhood. His seven to sixteen year-old self and Hiccup were similar in nature, as little Gobber had loved to explore and spend time in the woods. He remembered it as a large bowl clearing with stunning scenery. And well, looking at it for the first time in decades, he was still right.
The pond inside sparkled in the moonlight, and a few flowers had sprouted that hadn’t been there before. Vines that had hardly tinted the stone wall back then had grown as long and thick enough to overcome the walls they covered and be possibly used as a rope.
“Gobber, come look.” Stoick said. Gobber promptly walked over, mumbling about the beauty of the place before he came to Stoick’s position.
Lodged in between rocks was a shield. One he’d sworn he’d seen before…
Stoick easily dislodged the shield, throwing it behind them aimlessly. The two of them continued forward to an edge inside the bowl.
Now, Gobber’s eyes weren’t what they used to be, but he swore…
“Stoick? What’s that?” He said? Pointing at something glinting in the moonlight.
Stoick squinted at it, and made his way down, sliding on steep parts, and simply jumping down the rest. Gobber clumsily made his way down as well.
“Gods… it’s Hiccup’s dagger.” Stoick said, gently picking it up as if it were a delicate flower.
“No- no it can’t be! It’s probably just an old dagger-“
Stoick held it up to him in a way that would make any other Viking flinch at the blade, but Gobber knew both consciously and subconsciously that his friend would never hurt him. He took it in his own hands. And Thor almighty, it was Hiccups dagger. Designs and all.
“Do you…. Do you think it-“
Stoick’s eyes intensified, but they lost their intensity when they heard something behind him.
Breathing.
Stoick turned around. Gobber’s eyes were definitely not what they used to be- since he hadn’t even noticed the sleeping dragon.
The dragon was black, its scales glinting with silver in the moonlight just as the blade had. It slept, eyes closed. However, its ears twitched, waiting for the two of them to come close and check if it were truly asleep.
Beside it were a pair of boots, thrown about carelessly.
“That’s-“ Gobber began.
“Night fury.” Stoick finished breathlessly. He took the dagger back quickly, it looking so very small, like a clothes pin in his hand, though it was like a butcher’s knife in Hiccup’s own. “Has to be.”
Gobber couldn’t stop him. Did he want to? The night fury was the embodiment of lightning and death itself. Stoick could very well be running into his own suicide.
However, the beast had Hiccup’s boots. And
Gobber trusted that Stoick would embody death in his own way, just like the Chief had done in the raid that Valka had been killed in. Gobber, having been like a second father— or perhaps a strange but supportive uncle—to Hiccup… he saw red. He could only imagine the way Stoick’s blood must’ve been boiling.
When Stoick got close, just as Gobber had expected, the night fury opened its striking green eyes. With large pupils it stared at Stoick. Questioning...
“You took my son. What did you do to him…”
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON!” Stoick shouted, bringing up the small dagger.
The beast’s pupils slit, and it brought its head down defensively. It never blinked, the almost unnoticeable detail sending shivers down Gobber’s spine.
Seeing Stoick’s reaction and threat, the dragon’s eyes almost went back to the way they were, just slightly thin like it was keeping its defenses up while trying to seem less dangerous. Slowly and with care, it lifted its wing.
There was Hiccup. His hair in his face, and his shoulders moving up and down with each easy breath. He looked so… peaceful. A foreign look on him specifically. He mumbled in his sleep, shifting his body and bringing his knees up closer to himself like his blanket had been taken away on a cold winters night. Gobber noticed how his hand rested on one of the night fury’s resting front paws.
“He… you…” Stoick stuttered. “What is this?” He whispered. He looked back at Gobber, who tensely shrugged. How was he supposed to know!?
The dragon looked down at Hiccup and nudged him with his head; the air from his nose blowing Hiccup’s hair around, messing it up. Hiccup looked mildly annoyed by the action, but the reaction faded as soon as it had appeared.
“You… you’re not killing ‘im?” Gobber said, incredulously. But dragons always go for the kill. Always.
The dragon’s eyes lost their sharpness, and it flipped its back tailfin. Both Gobber’s and Stoick’s eyes widened.
Connected with leather, on the tail, was a red piece of fabric mirroring the other fin. The design was complex; mechanics that even Gobber couldn’t understand at first glance.
“Hiccup… did this?” Stoick asked. Why wasn’t the Chief destroying the beast and swiping away his fragile, sleeping son to safety? Gobber assumed it was the “make no sudden movements” trick—where you make no sudden movements. It’s in the name!
The dragon blinked, but an understanding was felt between all of those awake.
“Could we- could we have him back now? It’s seems you had fun playing with ‘im, but that’s his son… so…” Gobber shrugged with his hands turned upwards in a pleading motion, smiling awkwardly. He tried to ignore the way Stoick’s head slowly turned to him, his face full of disbelief.
“Are you trying to ask it… politely?” Stoick squinted at him.
“Well, What else am I supposed to do?”
The night fury began to nudge Hiccup’s head again, now purposely messing up the boy’s hair, reminding Gobber of how Snotlout used to tease him. However, the venom that existed in Snotlout’s actions… just wasn’t present. It all felt nearly friendly. Playing, even. Which was impossible.
Well, a lot of impossible things were apparently possible tonight.
Hiccup finally mumbled. “Hmm… toothless- stop…” he said, nuzzling the top of his head into the night fury’s arm. The dragon warbled and clicked.
“Wha’ are you talking about? J’s go to sleep…”Hiccup… responded??
“Hiccup.” Stoick said sharply, then the boy’s eyes flew open.
Hiccup staggered to sit up, hitting his head on Toothless’s wing. His eyes darted between Stoick and Gobber, wide and afraid.
“O-oh -ah…D-dad!- it’s not- Toothless isn’t-“ Hiccup stuttered. The dragon seemed to sense Hiccup’s apprehension, and its eyes focused on the two men like predator to prey.
Stoick said nothing. What do you say in this situation? ‘Well, not sure what you’re doing out in the woods cuddling with our worst enemy yet! But have fun, boy-o!’
Guess it was friendly uncle-dad time for Gobber.
“Hiccup- Eh… How’s about you just… explain?” He offered, ignoring the way the chief side-eyed him.
Hiccup’s eyes were wide and his shoulders tense, and without changing his position at all, his eyebrow raised. “What? You’re not gonna… go crazy?”
Stoick still said nothing, so Gobber smiled anxiously. “Eh, yeah. Sure!”
Hiccup made eye contact with his father- his mistake- and he immediately made that instinctive move to look down at the ground in shame. A habit of his that few recognized.
Stoick sighed, and got onto his knees to sit. Gobber internally groaned at his friend, clunkily getting to his own knees with anything but grace. It was the most willing to listen that he’d ever seen Stoick- though maybe the Chief’s uncharacteristic calm behavior was due to the fact that an actual night fury currently could snap his son’s neck like a twig at any moment.
Not to hurt his own feelings, but Gobber knew that Hiccup was all the man had left. That dragon was holding Stoick’s everything.
“So uh-“ Hiccup scratched the back of his head. “Where to start? Uhm…”
Stoick gave no response, he was certainly living up to his name.
“Well, why don’t you start with how you met this ah-” Gobber squinted. He could’ve sworn Hiccup had given him a name…
“Toothless.” Hiccup said. He pointed up at the night fury’s jaw. “His teeth… retract? It was just a thing I said and then it sort of stuck.”
“Ah- yes! Toothless. How did you two meet? Let’s start with that.”
Hiccup fiddled with his hands leaning against The night fury. Toothless stared with large pupils at Stoick and Gobber, the dragon was curious.
“Well, a month ago, I told you guys I shot down a night fury. Which I did. So when you guys said I was lying and sent me back to our hut— I left the next day to look for it. I found him tied up in the woods, realized I just wasn’t Viking enough, and set him free.”
Gobber blinked, and Stoick’s eyes definitely widened. That was quick…?
“Ookay… That’s…”
“A lot, I know.” He made a tired popping noise with his mouth. “But then after the first day of dragon training, I came out here to find him. I found him in here stuck because he’d lost his back fin. Which was…. my fault.” He said. Gobber—not in all of his years— had ever seen a Viking visibly feeling guilty for successfully downing a dragon.
“So I got to making him a prosthetic. I also realized that dragons make for way better company than the other teens. You know, they don’t push me into mud or call me useless.”
“There are others?” Stoick said, his voice low and quiet.
“Just a small pack of terrible terrors and the dragons in the arena. Speaking of, I started using stuff I learned from Toothless on them to train them. I just wanted to finish training as soon as possible so I could get back here- but then it got me super…. popular? I don’t need popularity though. I have Toothless. Right, bud?”
The night fury seemed to positively respond to the boy’s words?—at least… if Gobber was getting the hang of reading any draconic body language other than ‘Kill’, ‘hurt’, and ‘hungry’, …then it was.
“I made that prosthetic fin so that he can fly, but he needs me to use it- at least until I find a way to make an automatic one.” He mumbled under his breath.
“Wait- wait- wait. As in use it in the air? Son, you’re suggesting you want to ride a dragon into the sky.” Stoick spoke louder, baffled.
“I don’t want to, dad. I have. That’s what we’ve been doing all this time. The saddle’s over there.” He pointed over to a large boulder, where there was a brown leather saddle leaned against the rock. They’d flown before. Hiccup had been in the sky!
“We went on a test flight today. I was so tired after dragon training and working on the fin all night and flying that I just kind of passed out. Toothless didn’t help keep me awake either.” He grumbled. The night fury didn’t look remorseful—though Hiccup wasn’t being genuine in his grumbling either.
Gobber put a hand on Stoick’s shoulder- knowing the man must be going absolutely crazy in that head of his. All four of them were silent, Hiccup looking heavily uncomfortable with the tension, until his eyes softened, and he sighed.
“Dad. We don’t need to kill them. There’s so much I need to tell you, so much that I’ve learned. The ones that raid us aren’t doing it of their own will- dragons are our allies!” He said, and stood up, causing both men to instinctively watch the night fury’s every movement like hawks in case it had any intention to hurt Hiccup. Hiccup walked the short distance to the boulder and picked up the saddle.
“You’ve never listened to me, I know. But maybe… maybe I can show you.” He said. The night fury saw the saddle, and stood up, excited. Hiccup mumbled something to his dragon that Gobber couldn’t quite make out.
Hiccup secured the saddle, and as he put it on, spoke without turning around. “So, who wants to go first?”
“No.” Stoick said, getting to his feet, causing Gobber to internally sigh as he struggled to get to his own. “No, Hiccup this is nonsense!”
“You have to trust me, Dad!”
“I’m not touching that beast! I-“ Stoick stopped as Gobber put his hand on the Chief’s shoulder.
Stoick quickly turned his head to see Gobber. His eyes—full of fury— searching his face
“Let’s give it a try, Stoick.” Gobber said quietly, watching Stoick’s anger fade into a look of grief far too familiar to the one-handed blacksmith.
“They killed Valka, Gobber. How could I betray her like this?” He whispered, not wanting Hiccup to necessarily hear them. Hiccup knew how his mother had died, yet Stoick preferred to not say it in the boy’s presence as if he had no clue.
“You and I both know what Valka thought about Dragons. Do her right, Stoick. I’ll stay back. You let your boy show you.”
Stoick’s shoulders relaxed, and he looked back to the boy and his dragon. As soon as he did, Hiccup smiled awkwardly, and gestured to the empty saddle on the eager Dragon’s back.
Stoick sighed, and Gobber pulled his hand away. “Fine. I’ll go. But afterwards, we’re going back to the Village and you are telling me everything. Understand?”
“Got it! Tooth, you ready?” Hiccup turned to the dragon that proceeded to stick its tongue out and wag its tail like a dog. Hiccup mounted Toothless, sliding his foot into a contraption on the bottom that, when Gobber looked closely he noticed was attached to the prosthetic. Hiccup checked it, and looked up at Stoick, hope in his eyes.
Stoick reluctantly and slowly approached the dragon. He was as careful as he would be with one actively trying to kill him. When he got to the dragon’s back, he held his arms close to his body. The Chief hadn’t looked this unsure since he and Gobber were children.
“We’re gonna do a shorter flight since Toothless isn’t used to carrying this much weight.” Hiccup said. “You know, I’m a fishbone.” He shrugged, saying the words like he hadn’t cried to Gobber about the horrible things that the other children said to him about his weakness all his life.
Stoick carefully and slowly mounted the dragon just as his son had. Hiccup pat the dragon’s head twice.
“We’ll be back in a couple minutes, Gobber! Okay, you ready, bud?” Hiccup said quietly to Toothless as if it were just them in the world. The dragon roared in affirmation.
Toothless ran, flapped his wings, and took off with the two people Gobber cared about the most in all of the archipelago.
Stoick’s yell of surprise rang throughout the forest until they disappeared above the clouds.
“HICCUP!” Stoick yelled, holding on to the sides of the saddle for his life. He was truly out of his mind! Why didn’t he just scoop up the boy and run when he had the chance?!
Hiccup didn’t respond, and they continued to go higher and higher. He’d never seen the clouds so close besides heavy fog. Being off of the ground made him more nauseous than that time he threw up on the side of the ship as a young-in. He held onto his helmet before it slid off.
Then, they broke through the clouds.
He hadn’t realized he’d shut his eyes tight until they hurt. He opened them, from a squint- to a wide eyed stare of wonder. They were above the clouds, and his beard swayed in the wind like a great fire. Hiccup’s hair in front of him was wildly blown about. Hiccup looked back at him with hopeful eyes and a smile.
Stoick the Vast, on top of a dragon. A Night Fury, at that!
Something in his heart wanted to enjoy the beauty of the skies, and to rejoice at the almost sewn rift between him and his son…
But guilt filled his stomach, coming up like bile in his throat. Down below, children and adults were laying in their beds, asking one another whether the dragons would one day take their life.
Those people counted on him. It was why they felt just safe enough to sleep at night- and here he was. Flying above them all on the very creature he’d sworn to protect them from.
“Dad.” Hiccup sighed harshly. “I know what your thinking. I know that this goes against every Viking instinct and belief- but you have to trust me-“
“Hiccup. What were you planning on doing if you went against that Monstrous Nightmare?”
Hiccup’s lips formed a line and moved to the side. He shrugged- more so cringed. “I don’t know…” He whispered—though Stoick was sure there was more to say about that than Hiccup was telling—as he turned back to look ahead of them. “I honestly thought you were going to go crazy when you saw Toothless. I’m… shocked, to say the least.”
“I felt crazy, that’s for sure. Still do…” he said in a laugh, then as it faded, he looked to the clouds all around them. “You know, your mother had wanted to stop the war with peace. She saw good in these beasts. I guess they always said you took after her, and not just in looks.”
Hiccup’s shoulders dropped and his head raised, “Wait-“ he said as he turned his body enough to face his father “Mom?”
Stoick nodded. “She always stopped the bolas that were thrown, pleaded for an axe to be put down, and tried to pull our warriors away from the downed. I don’t know what she saw in them.” He laughed bittersweetly. “I don’t know what either of you see in ‘em.”
Hiccup frowned. Out of curiosity, Toothless twisted his head just enough to look at and listen to the two Vikings, whilst making a clicking noise.
Hiccup put a hand on the dragon’s head, as if he understood. “I guess I just saw… myself. I looked into his eyes when he was trapped in the bola, and I saw another person- someone all alone in the world.” The Night Fury warbled sweetly, and Hiccup smiled. “When we started to become friends, I learned more about him as we started to spend every day together. He showed care for me, and I cared for him in return.”
Stoick frowned. “You’re not alone in the world, Hiccup. I’m your father, and I’ve always watched out for ya’” the Chief said, and his son’s eyes turned… cold.
Hiccup responded harshly “I didn’t have you, actually. I didn’t for a long time. I’ve spent most of my life trying to get your attention- any Viking’s attention. And all you saw were my screw-ups. I never fit in- I was the hiccup of the village.” He sighed, and looked back down at the dragon, “Yeah, I felt pretty alone.” He spoke with bitter resignation, as he was unfortunately used to it all, inured to neglect.
He turned away from his father again.
Stoick didn’t respond. How could he? It was true.
He hadn’t been there for his son.
“I never told you about this because I knew you wouldn’t listen. I noticed what you were doing before. You only stayed silent because you were scared of Toothless.” He said.
“…You trust this beast? Would you trust him with your life?” Stoick said, expecting silence.
“Yeah. I would.” Hiccup stated, nodding a little.
“Then…” he said, putting his hand on his son’s shoulder, “…not in a million years did I think I would say such a thing, but….”
“Lead the way, Hiccup.”