How to Train Your Friend

By Joei Write

Chapter 1

A Memory of Friendship

The dancing rays of the sun were captured in the evening tides that strutted around the gleaming waters of Berk. Every single wave that moved through the water performed in its own unique way; this was pleasantly appropriate due to the inhabitants of the island, namely Hiccup and his dragon trainers. No one really knew what to think about Hiccup and all of his dragons, friends, and accomplishments; as for Hiccup himself, he was just grateful to be alive. The best dragon trainer on the island was sitting in high places, on the edge of a cliff to be exact, and beside him was his very own dragon, Toothless, the fastest and smartest dragon on Berk. Hiccup leaned back with his arms stretched, and then he exhaled heavily. He had been flying around all day with the Twins doing drills about what you should do if you'd fall off of your dragon and plummet towards the ground. Hiccup and Toothless needed to demonstrate this feat of trust so many times that after a point, Hiccup was actually more physically exhausted than Toothless had been, and they were forced to call it a day.

Regardless of his long training session, Hiccup was still marveling at everything that had happened in the last few months. Not three months ago he had been the runt of his father's heritage, scrapping by every day with more harassment than the last; yet now, he was the most respected viking on the island, befriending and training a Night Fury, and even going so far as to teach the other vikings how to ride dragons for themselves. Two months ago he was having difficulty trying to keep the newly befriended dragons under control, but his father, Stoick the Vast, had more than enough courtesy to give Hiccup and his friends the Dragon Academy as needed. Most recently, Hiccup was feeling grateful to be alive because he had just survived his third extended stay on the dreaded Outcast Island. While he was there, he was held hostage by Alvin and his feared henchmen, ready to be executed at any given moment. By some miracle, Hiccup and Toothless prevailed and made it off the island with no further body parts missing, and made it home to Berk to sleep in their own beds.

The light of the setting sun blinded Hiccup for a moment, and the sudden pain it caused his eyes shocked him back into reality. He covered the light with his hand and squinted, trying to see normally again, and blinked swiftly in succession. Toothless picked his head and tilted it, watching what his friend was doing, though not quite understanding the predicament. Hiccup blinked a few more times, and then shook his head, gaining his normal sight once more. He then turned to Toothless and smiled, shrugging his shoulders. Toothless did his best to smile back as he always did, and Hiccup only giggled at the attempts Toothless always made. Hiccup then got up and walked over to Toothless and laid back down against his side.

"I'll tell you something bud…" And the dragon's ears perked up. "I love how everything has been going lately…but there is one person I wish I could share it all with." Toothless leaned in his head, and Hiccup only patted it and stroked his nose. "Don't get me wrong bud…you're the best friend I've ever had, no doubts. I did have a friend before you though, a long time ago." Toothless rattled his head, clearly intrigued and desired more. Hiccup picked up on this and nodded towards his companion. "Well uh…gees…I haven't had to talk about him in years." The young viking said while reaching to scratch his head. "He's a little older than me…brownish-white hair…green eyes…?" Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what his dragon wanted to know. Toothless nudged Hiccup's shoulder, he wanted more. "I…uh…well, his name was Jorvar. He left when he was eight years old, and I don't think we've spoken since." The Night Fury still made grunts and moans. "What more do you want Toothless…a story or something?" And the dragon slightly nodded; Toothless' ability to understand human speech was both a gift and a curse to Hiccup. "Alright then…uh…" And he scoured his mind for a good memory of his old friend. "Oh…I got it…" Hiccup expressed calmly.

It was the beginning of a new spring on the island of Berk, Hiccup's mother had been long since passed away and Stoick was busy as ever running the tribe with the help of Gobber and the other leaders. It was a mildly clear day, though the skies didn't reflect the mood Hiccup was feeling that afternoon. He ran up the stairs of his home and dove under the bed. The little seven year old Hiccup did his best to remain quiet while his playmate in the house scrambled to find him. Hiccup giggled in a playful manner, and tucked his legs and arms further under his bed, trying to conceal himself as much as possible. Hiccup counted to ten, twenty, thirty; he still hadn't been found. Hiccup was convinced that he had won, and gently crept out from underneath the bed and stood up. As he turned around he saw a small plush dragon resting in the palm of his friend's hand. Hiccup screamed and fell backwards onto the floor.

"Ha ha…got you again Hiccup…!" Jorvar taunted his friend and hopped off the bed. Hiccup was grasping his chest as he tried to breathe easy. Jorvar extended his hand to assist Hiccup in standing up, and as he pulled Hiccup up off the brunneous wood that made up the top half of his home, all Hiccup could do was shriek.

"Why would you do that…?" He moaned his complaint to Jorvar. "You know I'm terrified of those…those…dragons!" He screamed and pointed at the small dragon doll that Jorvar was still holding in his hands. Jorvar immediately regretted doing that to Hiccup, as he only meant to spook him.

"I'm sorry Hiccup, I didn't mean to scare you so badly, I was just trying to make you laugh." What he was saying was sincere, and Hiccup knew it, but the principle of how he had gone about his scare could've killed Hiccup.

"Still Jor…that's no reason to used that dragon doll my Mom got me. It looks so mean and spiny, I don't wanna touch it." And Hiccup coward away from the small toy and ran down the stairs to sit by the fire that burned inside his home.

Jorvar felt bad about his attempt to arouse some excitement to the duo's small, but simple game of Hide and Seek. He threw the toy behind him and walked down the stairs and sat next to Hiccup. Both children put their hands out to be warmed by the fire, as it was always burning, lighting up every single winter night and summer evening on Berk for the two friends. After rubbing his hands together, Jorvar placed his shoulder over Hiccup's to try and comfort him, but Hiccup just pulled away and huffed the best he could. Jorvar was saddened by this, but all vikings are stubborn in one way or another. Jorvar thrust his arm over Hiccup more fiercely than before, and he completely grasped Hiccup's neck and pulled him in. Jorvar's knuckles bore down on Hiccup's head and noogied him like he was Stoick. Hiccup laughed out loud as he tried to escape from the lock, and soon, Jorvar and Hiccup had both had enough and Jorvar let go. Hiccup waited until he stopped laughing to say something.

"You know that hurts my head…!" Hiccup exclaimed joyfully while rubbing his scalp. Jorvar chuckled.

"But you like it when I do it anyway." And the two laughed once more. After they took in air for yet another breath of life, Jorvar placed his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "But really Hiccup…sorry for the thing with the dragon; I didn't know that it would scare you that badly." Jorvar's eyes drowned with sincerity, and Hiccup saw every drop of it.

"It's okay Jor…I just really don't like dragons…they're so…spooky…" Hiccup wrapped his arms around himself and shook upon ending the sentence, but Jorvar's mind had created an idea.

"Hey Hiccup…" And the young viking turned to Jorvar. "Let's make a pact right now…when it comes to dragons, let's promise to always have each other's backs…I'll keep a Night Fury's eye on yours if you'll do the same for mine." Hiccup was terrified of dragons, this was true, but in his heart, he thought that as long as Jorvar was there, how badly could it truly end? Hiccup smiled, moved his hand out and spit on it. He then reached out to Jorvar.

"Deal…" And Jorvar spat on his own hand as well, and then the two shook.

"Deal…" Jorvar announced with pride.

"And that's it bud…nothing more to it." Hiccup finished his tale to Toothless. The dragon had been listening intently the entire time, and it wasn't long before he saw the sadness come back into Hiccup's eyes. "There's no point though. Jorvar's parents decided to leave Berk after the dragon's attacks became more frequent…actually…they were the only family to do so. Huh…guess the stubborn part of our forefathers didn't carry over to them, huh bud?" Toothless snorted, his way of laughing. Hiccup then stared out back over the water towards the setting sun. He noticed that his memory must've taken longer to explain than he thought it would, as the sun was now touching the water, and had turned a dark orange, red color. Hiccup stood up and stretched his arms over his head, and then he sighed. "Oh well, I guess we'd better start heading back bud. On the bright side, this is a great time for our evening flight." Toothless roared, happy that their daily flight around the island at sunset was about to be undergone, it was one of Toothless' favorite things to do with Hiccup.

The sky was dark when the two finally touched back down on the ground with a massive thud. Toothless' black wings blended effortlessly with the night sky as they landed in front of Hiccup's house. Before long, they walked into the front door, heard it creak as it always had, and across the room, Hiccup saw his father Stoick eating mutton. He watched his dad guzzle some water down with the meat, and once Stoick set the mug down, he finally took noticed of his son and the dragon. "Hiccup…good to see you son; how's the dragon training been going…?" And he took another swig of water and meat.

Hiccup never truly knew how to speak to his father, even after everything that he had done. Though, in this position he really didn't have time to think, so he talked the way he usually did. "Oh it was just fine. I now know that I have two dragon trainers who don't entirely trust their dragon…so I had to fall off Toothless over and over again to demonstrate. My body couldn't take anymore falling!" He complained and threw his hands up. Stoick laughed, he never had such problems with his Thunder Drum, Thornado. Hiccup felt a need to change the subject, so he thought he'd inquire about Jorvar. "Hey Dad, can I ask you something…?" Stoick put down his food and listened.

"Sure, go ahead." And placed his fist against his head; he had a look as if he wasn't curious, but as a father, he needed to listen.

"Do you remember…you know…Jorvar Asvald…the sixth…? He was my playmate when I was a lot younger…?" Stoick's eyes widened.

"Well…I was convinced you'd forgotten about him a long time ago. Good lad, strong willed, brave heart…he was a true Asvald." Hiccup silenced his dad in a polite way, as he wasn't done.

"Uh…yeah him…where did he and his family go…? And what ever happened to them…?" Stoick rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers.

"I know this…I got a letter from them a few years ago." With that, he stood up and walked over to a chest behind them. He popped the lock and picked up a stack of paper and scurried through them as he walked back over to the table with his dinner on it. The huge viking tossed aside many papers until finding the desire one. "Here it is…" And he reread it. "It says that they settled down in Wintersbreath. That's quite a ways from here…on the shoreline of the mainland actually; it also says that the family took up leatherworking, making hides and skin clothing. Quite a respectable profession…" Hiccup got a little ahead of himself a blurted out,

"Do you think we can send him a letter…?!" Stoick and Toothless both looked at Hiccup confused.

"What for son…?"

"To ask them to come back…! The dragon threat is over…they'd have better lives here now. We have no shortage of skins for them to use, and trade ships pass through here every couple days. It'd expand their business all over the place!" Hiccup threw up in arms for his last reason, and it all seemed very credible. Stoick pondered this, as he wasn't so sure if it was a good idea.

"I'll leave this up to you Hiccup. They were more your friends than mine. If you choose to send Jorvar a letter, I'll throw in a good word as well."

There was no hesitation, Hiccup instantly ran upstairs to his room, pulled out a piece of parchment and quill with ink and wrote faster than he had ever before in his whole life. He included in the letter all that had happened to him on Berk. His friend Toothless, talking to his new friends, starting a Dragon Academy; it all seemed like the perfect letter to Hiccup, and before long, Stoick marked it and put in that good word. Hiccup encased the letter and placed it on his desk, thrilled to send it. Toothless was also excited, as he felt an odd urge to meet this old friend of Hiccup's, he didn't feel threatened, but more so a sense of curiosity.

The trade ship passed through Berk in a number of days, and with it leaving, it also carried the letter across the sea towards Wintersbreath. Hiccup watched from the dock as the boat pulled away, Toothless by his side. He scratched Toothless' neck, and the dragon purred. "He'll get it bud, he's got to. I mentioned that the dragon attacks have stopped. I guess now we just have to waited and see." The hope in Hiccup and his dragon grew, but the further the ship sailed away, Hiccup also found himself growing more and more fearful with each passing moment. He only wished that Jorvar would at least consider returning, for if the two were reunited, it'd spark an old friendship that Hiccup was sure would benefit not just himself, but the whole Dragon Academy as well.