Chapter One

 NOTE: This is a short story. It's a fanfic about H2TYD so it's just for fun, and yes...it will be short.

Hiccup breathed the crisp morning air in deeply, feeling his heart leap as Toothless climbed higher, wings beating thunderously on either side of him. The dragon climbed up to dizzying heights before pulling down sharply. They dropped, going into a dive. The feeling of flying beat anything else Hiccup could think of. It was a rush, plummeting towards the peaked rooftops of the houses below, watching the lights in the windows grow larger as they got closer and closer.

Toothless went even lower, flying over the marketplace, and Hiccup could make out people walking between the shops, buying from the vendors and shovelling the snow away from their doors. Many of the Vikings on the street looked up as Toothless and Hiccup flew over, a few people pointed at them, and Hiccup grinned. They flew overhead so often that the villagers knew who it was right away. Some of the Vikings waved and called out greetings.  One little boy tried to hit them with a snowball and Hiccup laughed, leaning sideways in the saddle to wave back.

When they dropped even lower he could make out familiar faces. He spotted Gobber working away at the entrance to his shop, sparks flying off the whetstone as he sharpened another sword. Just down the way a little, Phlegma the Fierce and Spitelout Jorgenson were fighting over the last loaf of bread at the baker’s stall. They waved their arms around as they yelled at one another, faces red. Finally Phlegma hauled off and hit Spitelout between the eyes with the block of cheese she was carrying, snatching the loaf of bread from the baker before storming away.

Hiccup chuckled as they flew overhead. Typical morning.

Down in the square below, a couple of children with their mother were pointing, dancing excitedly as they watched the dragon swoop on the wind. Then Hiccup saw the mother glare at them disapprovingly, pulling her children close to her apron, as if she feared the dragon would swoop down and try to pick them up like sheep. He gripped the leather harness more tightly, trying to ignore the flash of irritation he felt at this. As if Toothless would ever hurt a child.

The island of Berk was filled with dragons now. They were living side by side with the villagers, and for some of the Vikings it was a hard adjustment. Learning to be friends when you’d been hunting one another for decades wasn’t easy. But that was all in the past.  Hiccup just wished everyone would give the dragons a chance. If they did, they would see how wonderful they really were.

            He closed his eyes and concentrated on how flying felt. The wind combed icy fingers through his hair and slapped his cheeks with cold; his heart was beating furiously in his ears. In front, he could hear Toothless growling happily as the currents picked them up and carried them higher.

Flying together had been hard at first. Learning to shift the tail fin whenever Toothless banked sharply or changed angles had taken a long time, especially with his own new leg. But he felt like he had it now. They were pretty smooth together. When his dragon switched directions Hiccup could tell instantly, sometimes he even anticipated it ahead of time. It was almost like he could sense what Toothless was thinking. He liked the thought of that, that they were so close they could read one another perfectly.

 Toothless glanced back over his shoulder and growled happily - Hiccup knew he was telling him to hang on. The dragon tucked his wings in and spiralled down, and Hiccup had to sit up straight and shift the tail fin position, using his metal foot to press down on the peddle.

            He knew something was off as soon as he stomped down and heard a dull metallic clunk. It didn’t feel right; the gears should have clicked into place neatly. Hiccup twisted around in the saddle, trying to see behind him. The red tail fin was stuck in position, narrower than it should have been. Too narrow to pull up out of a dive.

            “Uh…Toothless—”

            Too late. The dragon had already dropped his nose, tilting his wings, intending to swoop down over the village like they always did.  They were already plummeting downwards, and Hiccup clung to the saddle. “Wait, pull up!”

            The dragon’s eyes shot open wide as he realized what was going on. He tried to pull up out of the dive, rearing backwards, flapping his wings frantically. This only made it worse, and now they were spinning wildly, completely out of control. Hiccup held on as tightly as he could and tried not to scream like a little girl. He kept stomping on the shifter, hoping to feel it click into place beneath him, but it kept clunking instead. He’d have to talk to Gobber about making some adjustments later, that was, if he didn’t end up going splat on the cobblestones below.

            The view was dizzying as they spun around and around; He held on to the saddle with white fingers, gritting his teeth. Far below them, the villagers seemed to realize something was wrong. People came out of their shops to stare up at them, shielding their eyes. Most of the Vikings wandering about in the town square ran to get under cover.

            The ground was coming up to meet them at an alarming rate. Desperately, Hiccup stomped down on the shifter once more, and this time he felt it click instead of clunk. He gave a whoop as the tail fin snapped open behind him. Their descent slowed considerably, but they were still coming in too fast for a proper landing. He shut his eyes. This was going to hurt.

            The wind rushed past, pulling at his clothing and making his eyes water. He braced himself.

            The impact of landing threw him out of the saddle, and he tucked his arms and legs in as he rolled, feeling something hard slam into his back, forcing the air out of his lungs. Finally he came to a stop, lying on his side, legs curled up to his chest. He’d smacked his temple on something and his ears were ringing. What was that awful noise? It sounded like someone was yelling at him from several miles away. For a few seconds he kept his eyes closed, hoping that nothing was broken… or missing, for that matter. One fake leg was good enough.

            He’d landed on something hard. No, something squishy. Or was it rubbery? Wait, what was that smell? Hiccup opened his eyes slowly, blinking, looking around in confusion. He sat up.

            He was sitting on a pile of fish, completely surrounded by them. Shiny, fat fish with gaping mouths, small green fish with bulging eyeballs, glistening rainbow fish that lay on the ground staring up at him with glassy, reproachful eyes. Scattered around the fish were ragged pieces of wooden planks and splinters. Hiccup even spotted a wagon wheel right next to where Toothless had landed. The dragon was struggling to his feet, shaking his wings out and rumbling crossly to himself. When he shook himself, fish flew everywhere, and one landed right on the stones at Hiccup’s feet with a watery sounding smack. He stared at it.

            He had enough time to realize they’d landed on the fish cart in the middle of the market, and then the fishmonger’s wife, Amma, was there. Her hands were on her hips, her face red with fury.  There were others beside her. More and more Vikings were coming out of the shops and homes surrounding the square, curious to see what all the commotion was about. They were starting to attract a crowd. He was going to be in serious trouble once his father found out about this.

            Hiccup scrambled to his feet, brushing himself off. He looked around nervously. “Um, sorry about that, guys. Rough landing. The tail fin got stuck and I couldn’t—”

            “You’re sorry,” Amma snapped. Her helmet was on crooked. The left horn had been snapped off long ago in battle, but she still insisted on wearing it. Hiccup thought it made her look sort of crazy. Right now she looked even more deranged than usual. Her eyes bulged with rage and she was snorting through her nose like an angry bull. Hands clenched at her sides, she stalked over to him and surveyed the wreckage he and Toothless had caused. “Look what you did, boy.”

            Hiccup flinched, wondering if he was going to have to run for it. He’d seen her smack a Viking in the face with a fish for a lesser offence.

Amma swept a hand at the mess surrounding them. “This is half a week’s produce gone. Three days’ worth of fishing you see in the dirt before you. Who’s going to pay for a muddy mackerel?”

            ‘Um…” Hiccup stooped down and grabbed a fish by the tail. Holding it at arm’s length, he tried to brush it off with one hand. “There, see? Good as new…urk…” The smell was so bad it made his stomach lurch, and he had to drop the fish and clap his hand over his mouth to keep from throwing up. He thought about telling her the fish probably hadn’t been good for two or three days, but decided against it. Now probably wasn’t the best time.

            Amma didn’t look impressed. “You just go barreling around on that…that thing and you think you can ruin all our hard work and walk away?”

            Hiccup narrowed his eyes. The way she’d gestured at Toothless, calling him “that thing” was rubbing him the wrong way. Amma hadn’t been one of the vocal anti-dragon people up until now, but maybe her true feelings were coming out. He realized, with some alarm, that the crowd around them was murmuring. Not everyone, but there were definitely groups of grumbling villagers.   Some of the Vikings were looking at one another, brows creased, fists clenched. Quite a few of them were casting dark looks at Toothless too, as if they thought he’d done it on purpose.

            Amma had turned slightly so that she was half addressing the others. “This dragon is a menace! They all are. He just fell out of the sky with reckless abandonment! He could have crushed any one of us.”

            “It wasn’t his fault!” Hiccup protested. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was a problem with the tail fin—”

            “If he hadn’t been buzzing around the market he wouldn’t have crashed here, would he?” Amma had grabbed a fish from the ground while she was speaking, and she slammed it into her hands with a meaty smack to emphasis the last two words. “Would he?”

            Fish juice splattered across Hiccup’s cheek and he tried not to gag. “It wasn’t his fault!”

            More murmuring, and now the Vikings were talking amongst themselves. Some of them were nodding. Hiccup felt a chill run down his back. Was it this easy to get them to turn against the dragons? Maybe the years of fighting were so ingrained in them that they would revert back to their old ways. It had been hard enough to get them to listen to reason before they’d found the nest and discovered the Red Death. After the battle he’d thought for sure everything would be different.

The idea that things might go back to the way they had been, to dragons being hunted, was terrifying. He couldn’t lose Toothless; he couldn’t let that happen.

 Someone from the back of the crowd shouted, “I think one of my sheep is missing.”

            “Maybe a dragon ate it.”

            “My pants caught on fire the other day - probably a dragon,” an older Viking near the front wheezed. His wife smacked him.

            “No, you silly idiot. You fell asleep and dropped your pipe in your lap.”

            The mumbling was growing louder. People were complaining to one another about small fires that had broken out and fences that had been knocked over.

            “Are any of our homes safe?” one woman said, looking down her nose at Toothless. “How do I know the beastie won’t crash into that too?”

Someone was pushing through the people to get to the front of the crowd. A big hairy man with a silver tooth. Hiccup felt himself slump with relief when he saw Gobber. The blacksmith was frowning around at the other Vikings, looking a little bit like a disapproving parent. Some of the crowd muttered and shuffled their feet, clearly feeling sheepish. The big man took in Hiccup’s disheveled appearance and raised a bushy eyebrow.

            “You alright, boy?”

            “Fine.” Hiccup sighed, gesturing over at Toothless. “Just need to make a few adjustments to the tail fin, I think.”

            Gobber nodded, then glowered at the fishwife. “Now, Amma, what’s this I hear about you blaming the dragon? Toothless’ fin just needs a bit of adjusting is all.”

            “You saying we all just have to put up with dragons crashing through our market in the morning?” Amma threw her hands up in the air. “How are we supposed to work and live like this? Do we have to watch the skies constantly and pray to the gods they don’t come attack our produce? Our homes?”

            Hiccup started angrily. “He didn’t attack you - we just fell. It wasn’t—”

            “Hush, boy.” Gobber held up a hand, cutting him off. He turned back to the angry woman. “Amma, I admit it will take some adjusting, but we Viking have always adapted, and we will continue to do so. Things have changed - the dragons are our friends now. We can live together peacefully—”

            “Can we? With them burning everything in sight, and crashing down out of the sky! How are we supposed to let our children out of the house? Dragons are obviously dangerous!”

            Someone from the crowd spoke up. “That big one with the spikes on its back set half the arena on fire yesterday!”

            Gobber had to speak over the angry murmurs that greeted this statement. “Now, come on. Hookfang just had a wee bit of a cold. He didn’t mean no harm.”

            “Makes precious little difference what he meant to do,” Amma shot back at him. “And how do you know that anyways? That thing was growling and barking at the other dragons before it happened - maybe it was angry and decided to burn the arena.”
            “They were play fighting. And the poor dragon sneezed, you saw it yourself.”

            Gobber and Amma appeared so caught up in arguing with one another that they weren’t even looking at Hiccup anymore. He wanted to sneak away, but when he looked over at Toothless he saw the black dragon sitting there, staring down at the fish surrounding him with bright, hungry eyes.

            Feeling alarmed, Hiccup shook his head slightly, trying to communicate the message without being obvious to the crowd around him. Don’t you dare.

            Toothless darted a look at him, guilty but not repentant. He shifted his eyes back to the fish that was closest to him. It was only about ten inches from his left claw. His tongue lolled out and then darted back in again. He was licking his lips.

            Hiccup glanced around at the crowd. Most of them were still looking at Amma and Gobber as they fought. If Toothless started eating the fish they’d spilled, Amma would have a fit. He inched closer, hissing out the side of his mouth. “Leave it alone, Toothless.”

            Toothless ignored him, gaze fixed on the fish.

            “How do you know?” Amma was saying. She gestured at Toothless violently, which pulled Hiccup’s attention away from his dragon and back to her. “How do you know they are all good? The Red Death obviously wasn’t, was it? And there might be others like it. What do we do when one shows up on our island and it isn’t good, when there is no way to train it?”

            Feeling a rush of anger, Hiccup straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat. The crowd all shifted, looking at him. “You just have to give them a chance.”

            “A chance to what? To set fire to our village and eat all our livestock?” Amma glared at him before looking around at the crowd. “That’s what they did - doesn’t anyone remember?”

            “Of course we remember,” Hiccup said over the murmuring that had started up again. “But back then we didn’t know what they were like. We didn’t know because we didn’t give them a chance.” He smiled, turning to look at Toothless.

            Toothless’ green eyes were round. He was sitting there looking incredibly guilty, a shiny silver fishtail poking out of his mouth. The Vikings all stared at him, and in the silence the black dragon slurped the fish tail noisily into his mouth.

            “Toothless!” Hiccup yelled.

            There were angry mutters from the crowd, and Amma exploded. She waved her arms at Hiccup, yelling that the dragon had crashed into her cart on purpose in order to eat all her fish. Hiccup was staring at her with his mouth open, lost for words, when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder. Silence swept over the crowd so fast it was startling. Hiccup looked back over his shoulder, and his stomach plummeted.

            His father, Stoick the Vast, was standing there with his brows furrowed, his face nearly as red as his beard. Now he was in real trouble.

            “Amma,” Stoick rumbled, “Hiccup is sorry about your cart. He’ll find a way to pay you for all your fish, won’t you, son?”

            Hiccup swallowed hard and nodded, staring at his feet.

            “Go on, everyone carry on with your day. I’m going to sort my son and his dragon out.” Stoick glowered at the crowd from beneath heavy eyebrows, and the Vikings began to disperse, going back to their shops and homes, and scattering throughout the square. Even Amma retreated to her shop, grumbling under her breath about dragons and destruction. Finally it was just Stoick and Gobber standing with him, both of them staring at him and Toothless.

            “Thanks, I’ve got it.” Stoick thumped Gobber on the back and the blacksmith nodded, giving Hiccup a crooked smile and a wink before shuffling away.

            Hiccup chewed on his lip nervously, wondering exactly how loud his father was about to yell. The “blow your hair back” yell or the “rattle your teeth in your skull” yell. Occasionally there was even the “peel the paint off nearby surfaces” yell, if you got lucky.

            Beside him, Toothless was crouched low to the ground, his ears flattened back on his head. He was probably anticipating all the yelling too.

            Instead of getting angry, Stoick just sighed. His broad shoulders slumped, and his face slowly returned to a healthier colour. “Come on, son. We have to talk.” He glanced around the square. “Somewhere else. See me off, will you? I’m heading down to the docks.”

            Hiccup trailed after his father, relieved to be leaving the town square. He was trying to think of something to fill the silence as they walked the rocky path to the water. He got the distinct impression that his father was more disappointed than angry, which was a hundred times worse than any amount of yelling.

            “Um, where are you going?”

            “Just another trip to get supplies.” Stoick scratched the back of his neck, looking uncertain. They had crested the top of the hill now, and Hiccup looked down at the series of shambling wooden docks that jutted out from the island. The Viking ships bobbed up and down in the water and the sun glittered off the surface of the ocean, so cold it was a deep, sparkling blue. Hiccup was intimately acquainted with how cold the water was, since he’d been dumped into it a few times during flights lately. Toothless seemed to think it was hilarious.

            Once they reached the docks his father stopped. “Listen son, I know you want everyone to believe that dragons are good, that they can be trusted—”

            “But they can,” Hiccup said, frustration making his voice crack. “Amma just doesn’t understand them. She obviously hates dragons.”

            Stoick reached out, putting his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. “She’s afraid, son. That’s all. The past is still pretty fresh for some. She doesn’t hate dragons; she doesn’t know anything about them yet. Neither do most of the villagers. But they will.”

            “I have to tell them then. I have to show them they shouldn’t be afraid.”

            Stoick pressed his lips together, obviously hiding a smile. “Then try not to crash into anymore carts of fish, will ya?”

            Hiccup could feel his face turning red. “That was an accident. His tail fin—”

            “I know, son.” Stoick smiled. “The villagers will come around, you just have to give them time. And you can’t force it, either. Vikings are an awfully stubborn lot, you know that. They’ll discover it on their own, step by step. The dragons are here to stay - they’ll come around eventually. Dragons are mighty persuasive creatures, aren’t they?” He winked at Toothless, who rumbled agreeably back.

            Stoick clapped Hiccup on the arm, nearly sending him sprawling, and then turned away, lumbering down the docks. Hiccup stayed where he was, leaning against Toothless. He was thinking about everything his father had just said. They stayed there like that for a little while, watching as the Vikings got the ship ready to sail. The men were loading crates onto the deck and moving empty barrels that were waiting to be filled. The noise of heavy boots stamping on the deck and the Vikings calling to one another mingled with the cries of the seagulls that swooped overhead.

Hiccup watched his father haul on ropes, hiking the sails up until they snapped open and filled with the wind. Maybe he was right. The people would come around eventually. They didn’t need Hiccup to run around preaching it at them. They’d realize in time. Deep down, dragons could be trained. They were good.

            Amma’s point about the Red Death came back to him. He hated that she was right about that one. That dragon couldn’t have been trained by anyone - all it had wanted to do was eat everything in its path. Hiccup sighed and turned to Toothless, patting his dragon on the neck. The issue was clearly more complicated. Maybe not all dragons were good…just most of them.

            In any case, the villagers just needed to give them a chance.

            “Hiccup!”

            His thoughts were derailed instantly. The girl running down the docks was enough to distract him, or to be more precise, to empty all intelligent thoughts out of his head. Hiccup found himself staring at Astrid as she slowed to a saunter, waving at him. She always wore the same thing: armor, fur boots, leather headband. Her hair was always messy and sunny blonde.

            And it didn’t matter - every time he saw her was like the first time.

            “Oh, hi…uh, what are you doing here?” He realized it sounded rude as soon as he said it out loud. He winced, but luckily Astrid didn’t seem to notice. He noticed everything about her though. The smattering of freckles across her nose, the way her hair shone in the morning sun. Without thinking, he stepped closer.

            “I was saying goodbye.” She wrinkled her nose at him suddenly, stumbling backwards. “Yuck. Why do you smell like fish?”

            He could feel his face turning bright red.  “Uh, just…doing a little fishing.” Toothless huffed through his teeth, laughing, and Hiccup gave him a narrow look.

            “I heard you and Toothless took quite a spectacular spill this morning.” Astrid raised her brows. “And that the fishmonger’s wife is pretty mad at you. Would that have something to do with it?”

            Hiccup silently cursed Gobber. The fish juice hadn’t even dried on his clothing and already Astrid knew. The blacksmith tended to be a blabbermouth when he thought he had a good tale to tell. The others would probably be hearing the tale about the fish crash landing for months after this. It would be one of his famous campfire tales after this. Maybe for a while it would even replace the story about losing his hand, which he’d told about a million times.

            “Uh, yeah. I had a malfunction with the tail fin. It got stuck.” He shifted from foot to foot, combing his fingers through his hair. He stopped when he realized his hair was wet and smelled like fish as well. He desperately needed a bath.

            “Don’t worry about it.” Astrid shrugged. “Amma has a hot temper but she’ll get over it.”

            “I don’t think it was the fish that bothered her,” he muttered. “I don’t think she likes dragons.”

            Astrid frowned. “Oh, right. I heard about that too. They just take getting used to, I guess. Some of the older villagers…”

            “I know.” He didn’t need her to repeat everything his dad had said already. He’d had enough of lectures for one day.

            Her smile returned. “Well, anyways, after you wash that fish stink off, you should come down to the arena. We’re going to race to the cliffs again this afternoon.” Astrid’s eyes were sparkling. Hiccup was never sure if her competitive streak scared him, or if it just made her even more attractive. Maybe both.

            He glanced over at Toothless who was bobbing his head up and down. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to have another fall like this morning…”  He trailed off when Toothless butted him with his nose. “Okay, alright. I guess I could make a few adjustments and then join you.”

            “Good,” Astrid grinned. “Glad you’re coming so I have another chance to kick your butt.” She punched him playfully on the arm, which hurt, and then she looked down at her fist. “Ugh, I forgot. Now I need a bath too.”

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