The Pride of Berk

A/N: Well, this is all on my friend, RazzlePazzleDooDot. She was talking about what it must have been like the first time Stoick referred to Hiccup as 'the pride of Berk' because in the movie, Hiccup appears to take this in his stride, but after disappointing his father for so long, I think he'd be a little surprised to hear how proud Stoick is of him. And of course, father/son feels xD I have to write them. And I'm taking a short break from my To Be Loved the Way You Love Me AU so I haven't written Hiccup/Stoick father/son in a week or so. I need to keep at it so I don't get out of practice xD This fic actually reminds me of other HTTYD2 fics I've read, but this isn't really HTTYD2, this is more set in between both movies. Hiccup is seventeen in this fic, just so you know. Anyway, happy reading!

There was nothing else in the world that made me feel as alive as I did whenever I flew Toothless. There was just something about those perfect, vaporous clouds and the distant sounds of other islands, the waves splashing far below us. Eventually, we would fly so far out that we couldn't hear anything but dragons calling distantly to one another. Though we lived on Berk, when we were up there in the sky, we were in another world, the world we truly belonged to. Our own.

The other dragons flew with us. The beautiful, glistening creatures, some of whom I had never met before, would see us and automatically drop or rise to our height, their smooth, scaly wings beating nearly in sync with ours. It was exhilarating, flying this close to such amazing creatures, so close I could touch the undersides of their wings, feel their hot and fiery breath on my face. Nothing compared to flying on Toothless.

Regretfully, I slid back into the saddle, adjusting the wrist guards I'd been fiddling with all week. They still didn't look – or feel – right. And maybe I should consider adding some gloves to the ensemble…no. I dismissed the idea, stroking Toothless' head gently as we turned around, starting back for Berk. I didn't want to wear gloves; I liked being able to just reach out and touch Toothless, and feel his scales beneath my fingers. I liked being able to touch him, and know he was there. Besides, dragons had a tendency to distrust humans who kept their hands concealed.

I took my hands off Toothless' head again, detaching my fingers from the reins. He didn't really need me to steer him, and I didn't need the reins, or the safety lock-in mechanism to keep myself in the saddle. If I fell, my dragon would always catch me. I liked having my hands free during flight, anyway. I liked to feel the wind slipping by, slipping through my fingers. It was a wonderful feeling, to know you were as free as that wind.

Unfortunately, that word – free – did not apply to me today. It would have, had I any choice in the matter, but unfortunately, being a son of a chief means you have very little voice in how you spend certain days. Like today, for instance. If today went how I wanted it to go, or if I wasn't the son of Stoick the Vast, I would have spent the whole day flying around. I would have completely ignored the village, my dad, everyone, and just spent the whole day with Toothless. That was all I really wanted today, anyway. But I didn't have a choice today. The Meatheads would be coming over to sign the peace treaty today, and I had to be there. I had to hang out with the heir to the Meatheads and pretend I didn't want to be flying on Toothless the whole time I was there.

Don't worry – the Meatheads knew about the dragons and everything. In fact, a couple of them had dragons of their own! Not everyone in the tribe welcomed dragons as whole-heartedly as Berk did, but Thuggory, the heir, was one of the few. So even though I could talk dragons with Thuggory just as well as I could with one of the other teens, it just wasn't the same as flying on Toothless, riding so far away from the rest of the world that you could believe yourself to be completely, totally alone.

I sighed as the island came into view, those familiar mountain peaks twirling and twisting up into the clouds, obscured by mist. If I had any choice in the matter, as I said, I would most definitely not be returning right now, but my dad held all the choices at that moment. And if I disappointed my dad, well…

I mean, it wasn't like we hated each other, don't misunderstand. He wasn't going to fly off the handle if I wasn't there, and he didn't, you know, hit me or anything. He just wasn't always happy with me. In fact, I was fourteen the first time I ever heard him say he was proud of me, and the novelty of that had worn off long ago. I'd killed some gigantic dragon queen and merged the worlds of Vikings and dragons. I mean, it really wasn't that impressive. So Dad had no real reason to be proud of me anymore. And even though making him proud was nice, I didn't feel like it was essential to my own happiness, the way I'd felt before I met Toothless. Really, I depended so much on my dad's love and acceptance before meeting Toothless, but now, so long as I had my dragon, I was good. I could take whatever the world threw at me if I had him.

We landed in the town square, just ten feet from the Great Hall, bringing me sharply out of my thoughts and desires for freedom. Dad and a few others were waiting on the steps of the Great Hall, craning their necks to look up at the sky. Maybe Mogadon, chief of the Meatheads, had finally broken down and was flying a dragon to Berk. Looking up confirmed it – a blue, sturdy creature carried the chieftain, and looking a little to the side, I spotted Thuggory and his silver Monstrous Nightmare, Killer.

"There you are," Dad sounded happier than I expected. He must have been in a good mood.

I turned to look at him as I climbed off Toothless, offering a small smile and coming to stand next to him. "This oughta be interesting. I can't wait to congratulate Thuggory on finally wearing his dad down." I let out a small chuckle as I looked upward.

Thuggory spotted me and waved, with Killer speeding up beneath him. When the two landed, the Nightmare waited patiently while his rider dismounted, and then he bolted over to me. Turns out, Killer was a bit of a misnomer. That dragon was absolutely the sweetest creature I had ever met. He licked me enthusiastically, nuzzling up against my hip. Toothless made a little annoyed sound in the back of his throat and I rolled my eyes at my dragon as I scratched Killer under the chin. "You can chill, Toothless – I'm not cheating on you."

Thuggory stared morosely at me and Killer. "I don't believe it," he huffed. "I'm the one who gives him fish and takes him out flying, and I'm the one who scratches him in his favorite spots and sees him every day and he likes you better than he likes me! You only see him once a year!"

"He does not like me more, he's just excited to be back on Berk," I moved on to scratching the Nightmare's head now as I spoke. "Aren't ya, big guy?"

Killer purred beneath my touch.

Mogadon and Dad's conversation suddenly drew my attention and I looked up as I knelt on the ground so Killer could rest his head in my lap.

"So, this is little Hiccup, huh?" Mogadon laughed a little, and I would have been embarrassed or offended, but his eyes were kind. He didn't mean to offend when he called me little, he just honestly remembered me that way. "He's grown quite a bit, huh?"

"Yep." Dad shot me a look, and I did a double-take. Beaming. My dad was actually beaming at me. "The pride of Berk is growing up."

Wait, wait, what?

My brain came to a screeching halt – which it only did when Astrid kissed me – as Killer drooled on my leggings. Did he just call me…did he mean…wait…wait… I just kept blinking and smiling stupidly at the two men, unable to fully comprehend it. I mean, they had been talking about me, but there was no way…

"C'mon, Killer!" Thuggory's cry brought me back to earth. His dad had already filed into the Great Hall, and he was quickly following. Dad was still staring at me, so I quickly got up, jolting Killer back to his feet. The Nightmare shot me a look of utter betrayal and scampered after his rider. I awkwardly brushed the Nightmare saliva off my leggings to avoid looking at my dad. "Um…what…what did you call me?"

"What do you mean?" He stuck one foot inside the door of the Great Hall to prevent it from closing on us, but he didn't look impatient to go inside.

My cheeks warmed. "The…you know, the pride of Berk, or whatever."

"Well…Hiccup, you are."

And, on that note, he went into the Great Hall himself, leaving me standing out there in the sun, my face now even warmer than the air. It was true that my dad's pride was not essential to my happiness, but…it felt really, really great to have it some days.