Points of View

Hiccup and Toothless' friendship, from the eyes of the other characters: Astrid, Snotlout, Stoick and Gobber. Hints of HiccupAstrid

Astrid Hofferson's world had just flipped upside down. Literally.

Not only had she figured out how Hiccup had gotten so good at dragon training - by being the first to actually train a dragon, and with a Night Fury! - she had also gone flying on the back of that same Night Fury. The monster dragon at their nest had scared her more than she would ever admit, but as she thought, it made terrible sense.

"-no, no, it all makes sense, it's like a beehive; they're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them," she explains breathlessly, hopping off Toothless with ease. Hiccup gets off behind her. "Come on, let's tell your dad-"

"No, Astrid, he'll -kill, Toothless, no we have to think this through," he says hurriedly. Astrid could hear the edge of desperation in his voice.

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's nest! The thing Vikings have been after since we first sailed here! And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?!" Astrid insists, trying to get her point across. They didn't have to mention Toothless right away, Stoick could be understanding... sometimes.

Without missing a beat, Hiccup in the most serious voice she had ever heard says, "Yes."

And she knows, right away, that this dragon means so much to him. More even than his own father, because this dragon has accepted him. He is no longer the person he once was, no longer someone to pity -this dragon has turned him into a fighter, someone to respect. He's done the impossible, and she's shocked at first.

And then, the reality settles in. She knows if she doesn't agree, if she goes to the village and reveals his secret -their secret now, she supposes- he will hope back on that dragon, fly away and never come back, because Toothless is everything to him.

"Okay," she replies. "What are you going to do?"

She can hear the hopelessness in his voice that he tries to mask. "Just give me until tomorrow, I'll figure something out." But she knows he will do whatever he can, no matter what, to keep Toothless safe.

Not sure what to do, she punches him. He takes a step back, slightly hurt. "That's for kidnapping me," she tells him. He gives Toothless a look that clearly says really?. Feeling awkward, she grabs his shirt collar slightly and pulls him forward, pressing her lips lightly against his cheek for a second. "That's for ...everything else." Self-consciously she pushes he bangs out of the way and walks away, and feeling worried for a moment she breaks into a run.

Hiccup and Toothless' friendship was different than anything she had seen before.

They were willing to do absolutely whatever it took to keep the other safe.

Snolout Jorgenson was stunned.

He really should've been used to surprises by now though. After all, in like six weeks, Hiccup went from being Hiccup the Useless to Hiccup, Dragon Training progidy. Although disappointed he hadn't won the honour of killing the Monstrous Nightmare, he never really expected to win; not with Astrid competing for it too. But Hiccup? No way. Snotlout did admire his cousin's skills, and was looking forward to the fight between him and the deadly dragon.

But he was stunned, because of this:

"I'm not one of them."

Hiccup tosses the helmet away, and Snotlout gaps. Because what exactly did Hiccup mean by that? All he had ever wanted to be a proper Viking! Everybody had heard him say, "I just want to be one of you guys," millions of times, what had changed!

Snolout watches with anticipation and shock mingling in with fear, because what if something went wrong and Hiccup got fried? He had never liked his scrawny cousin, but he didn't want him to die. He could hear Hiccup's voice in the otherwise silent arena, gently saying words to the dragon. What was the fishbone doing?

"Stop the fight!" Stoick the Vast yells, but Hiccup protests.

"No, I need you all to see this, they're not what we think they are," Hiccup says seriously, and Snotlout was shocked. Hiccup sounded firm and determined and strong.

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" The hammer leaves a dent in the metal and the beast is startled into action. The dragon lurches forward and snaps at Hiccup, who only just gets away. Pandemonium ensues. Snotlout sees Astrid run into the arena, distracting the dragon's attention from Hiccup, which confuses him. Yesterday she wouldn't have given the Chief's son the time of day.

Hiccup yells and screams as the Nightmare cuts off his path from safety. A claw pins him to the ground, and Snotlout's breath catches in his throat. Then a piercing cry came, something the bulkier Viking knew all too well: Night Fury.

The shot of purple and white fire blasts a hole in the metal and the creature dashes in, obscured by the smoke, but he can hear the noises. The Night Fury is wrestling with the orange dragon, forcing it backwards. The smoke clears, and Snotlout watches as the black dragon forces the Nightmare back in its cage, all the while defensively standing near... Hiccup?

It was defending him?!

Snotlout's thought was confirmed as older Vikings pour into the ring. He can see something that looks like a saddle on the back of the dragon, and Hiccup rushes up to it, pushing its head, clearly trying to get it to move. It doesn't, but speeds towards, knocking out Vikings, perhaps thinking they are threatening Hiccup. It tackles Stoick to the ground and lands on top, preparing to fire. Over all the screaming and yelling, Snotlout can hear Hiccup's scream "NOO!"

The dragon looks back up at him for a second, and then its forced off Stoick and is forced into a binding contraption. Astrid holds Hiccup back as he struggles to get to get to the black dragon. Snotlout can vaguely hear him pleading ("Just don't hurt him! Toothless!") and something stirs within him. Sympathy? Pity? The boy's voice sounds so broken, and his face is unbearable to look at.

Snotlout turns away from the scene to his baffled and confused friends, all of them trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Hiccup befriended a dragon? A Night Fury? So he hadn't been lying, he really had shot one down... And become friends with it (him, apparently) and named it Toothless.

And Snotlout is a little bit in awe, not just because Hiccup (Hiccup!) had done something nobody else had ever attempted, but because the dragon charged into here, knowing fully well he could be killed, yet he did it anyway, because Hiccup had been in danger.

Stoick Haddack was outraged. Because his son, his only son, the last trace of his wife and his only remaining family, had gone over and associated himself with the dragons!

He does his best to control his rage as he slams the door shut and shoves Hiccup into the room harshly. He stumbles but doesn't fall. "We had a deal Hiccup!" Stoick reminds him, boiling. It was what the boy always wanted, yet he just couldn't follow through with it!

"I know, I should've told you sooner..." The boy ran his hands through his hair, looking completely miserable. "Oh, it's all so messed up. But dad, be mad at me, take it out on me, but please -just don't hurt Toothless!"

His concern for the devil almost softens his father for a moment, but the Chief fills with anger. "The dragon? That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?" So many more people could have been hurt if the beast hadn't been restrained.

"He was just protecting me!" Hiccup protests, and he almost wants to scoff. "He's not dangerous!" That makes him angry; not dangerous? They're the ones who took Valhallarama away, far too soon!

"They've killed hundreds of us!" He retaliates.

"And we've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup takes a deep breath and stands tall, looking more determined than Stoick had ever seen him be. "They defend themselves, that's all! They raid us because they have to; if they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves! There's something, else, on their island dad, it's-"

That grabs Stoick's attention, and he cuts off his son. "Their island? So you've been to the Nest!"

"Nest? Did I say nest?"

"How did you find it?" he demands.

"I- I didn't, Toothless did, only, only a dragon can find the island-"

Possibilities, victories and triumphs flashes through Stoick's mind. Being the Chief who finally brought down the dragons, getting rid of them, for good, he would go down in history! He could finally avenge Valhallarama's death.

Hiccup was continuing as his father strode towards the door. "-It's like nothing you've ever seen, dad, I promise you can't win this one... dad, please -" he put his hands on Stoick's arm, trying to pull him back with little success. "FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME?!"

"You allotted with them," Stoic says roughly. "You're not a Viking -you're not my son."

And it breaks his heart to do it, but he pushes the feeling away, because Hiccup chose the dragons over his tribe.

"You are many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer is not one of them," his father remembers. Yeah, no kidding.

Gobber was terrified. Because holy Thor that thing was huge.

The dragon had erupted out of the mountain and was roaring. It blasts its huge fire at the ships, burning them. Vikings jumped from the boats and into the water. Chaos continues, and it seems hopeless as Gobber stays behind with Stoick -because how it Odin's name are they going to get out of this?

But after only a few moments, there is a distraction: kids, flying on...dragons?!

What in Thor's name were they thinking?

Gobber could see Hiccup yelling to the other kids, acting like a leader, a Chief. A Chief on a dragon, mind you. The Nadder swoops down over the ships for some time while the others soar towards the hulking dragon. Finally, it seems Hiccup had found what he had been looking for and jumps off the back.

"Go help the others!" he tells Astrid and she flies off. Gobber can't see much beyond the flames, and turns his attention back to the mountain-sized beast. The kids are flying around, blasting fire at the beast and distracting it the best they can, and Gobber can't deny there's something that feels right when he sees them.

The huge dragon continues to wreck havoc, and Gobber helps Spitelout herd the men and women off to the far side of the island. Its hard, with the dragon roaring flames everywhere, but nobody's been roasted. Yet, anyway.

And suddenly there's Hiccup, on the back of that Night Fury, and Gobber thinks -despite the danger they were in- Hiccup had never looked more at peace.

The scrawny viking quickly moves toward the dragon and Gobber watches with baited breath as he helps to maneuver the black beast as if he had been doing so his whole life and he brought the mountain-dragon into the sky. It stretches its massive wings and flaps them, sending stones and vikings tumbling over themselves.

The two dragons disappear into the sky and all they can do is watch as the clouds illuminate and shots are fired and they hope so, so much that Hiccup will come down soon.

Then Hiccup comes racing out of the clouds with the monstrous dragon following and roaring. Something on the end of the Night Fury burns, and Gobber can tell its nothing good, but then the dragon turns and fires into the larger dragon's open mouth. Relief spreads through him as the Green Death (a good name, in his opinion) explodes into flames, but that quickly turns to worry as the black dragon and Viking try to beat the flames. That large tail on the end can't be good...

He sees the Night Fury dive into the flames for just a second and his throat constricts, because Hiccup -his apprentice and someone who's like a son to him- just can't die.

He watches as Stoick wanders, looking for the Night Fury and Hiccup, and it feels like the world is ending when he sees the beast lying down, groaning. Hiccup didn't make it...

The dragon slowly unwraps his wings as Stoick quietly cries, and -oh Thor it's a miracle- as the Chief declares that the boy's alive. Gobber laughs in happiness and relief, and he would do anything for that dragon, because it kept Hiccup safe despite the risk.

He walks over and pats it gently. "Thank ya fer saving tha boy." The dragon groans, as if it understands. Its bright green eyes follow Hiccup as he's taken to a Healer, making sure that his rider is still okay. Gobber laughs heartily. "Don't worry, we're not gonna let any'hing happen to him ever again'."

Stoick watches as Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout fly with their dragons, nudging Gobber. "Ain't ever seen anything so right?"

Gobber shakes his head, watching as Hiccup performs a dangerous trick, trusting Toothless to catch him. "Nuttin'."

No matter who you were in Berk -a Healer, a lumberjack, a blacksmith, a child- there was one thing every single person in the village knew: Hiccup and Toothless had an unbreakable bond like nothing else, and they would do absolutely whatever it took to keep one another safe.