What If | How to Train Your Dragon

Chapter 3

Hiccup had been flying for just a few hours when he and Toothless spotted a nearby island to rest on.

“I wonder how far out of the Argapellago we are.”

Toothless grunted in response as if to say, “Not sure.”

They landed on the island and took on their surroundings.

“Seems nice enough, wouldn’t ya say?”

Toothless hummed in agreement.
Toothless decided to wander around the island while Hiccup stayed put making camp. It wasn’t until then that he realized the full depth of the situation. He not only ran away from his home, but he also disowned his village for a dragon. The sworn enemy of his people. Well, who used to be his people. Now he was an outcast.

But hadn’t he always been an outcast?
For as long as he can remember Hiccup had always been the butt of the joke. The laughingstock of the village. No one ever too home seriously no matter how good his inventions were. There had been multiple times where Stoick had taken Hiccup to meetings with other chiefs, and yet no matter how many times he suggested a new law or strategy, a new way of doing things, no one would listen. No one liked the idea of change.

Hiccup had threatened their way of life since the day he was born. Easy to say, the villagers of Berk were not happy. Especially not with Hiccup's latest idea, this he was sure of.

Hiccup had just gotten the fire ready when he heard a dragon roaring in the distance.

Toothless.

Hiccup ran as fast as he could towards the sound, breaking through branches as they tore and scratched at his face.

“TOOTHLESS!” He hollered.

After ages of what felt like ages of running, he finally reached a clearing g where he saw Toothless laying eerily still. He immediately knelt down next to him, checking for a pulse.

He's alright, Hiccup thought to himself, giving a sigh of relief.

Just then, a shadow appeared from the trees. They were around Hiccup's heigh, maybe a bit taller. They were wearing what looked like armor.

“Who are you,” asked Hiccup, “And what did you do too Toothless?”

The stranger did not respond. Instead, they just stood there; Watching.

“I asked you a question, who are you?”

This time the stranger tilted their head slightly, as if they were confused.

What Hiccup found strange was that he didn’t feel scared. In fact, he felt quite calm around the stranger.

He was about to ask, yet again, who the stranger was when Toothless stirred.

“Toothless.” Hiccup gasped. He rushed towards him, making sure he was okay. “Hey, you alright bud?”

Toothless grunted as he stirred awake. When his eyes landed on the stranger he immediately sat up straight, ready to strike when need be.

The stranger got on all fours and started crawling towards Toothless. Toothless crawled back. Hiccup just stood off to the side trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

When the stranger reached Toothless, they started scratching his chin. Which, to Toothless' displeasure, he quite enjoyed.

“Okay, what the heck is going?” Queried Hiccup, trying to make sense of the situation.

The stranger took off their helmet. Underneath was a woman with brown hair and sharp features. Her cheeks almost looked sucked into her face, but there was an odd beauty about her.

“My name is Valka, what is yours?”
“I-uh-Hiccup. My name’s Hiccup. And this is Toothless.” Hiccup pointed to his flying companion.

Valka's eyes seemed to widen at the statement, but she quickly composed herself, instead asking, “Where did you find him?”

“Um, well, funny story, I kinda sorta shot him down.”

Valka looked at Hiccup quizzically.
“I mean, I regret it now obviously, though I wouldn’t have realized how nice dragons are if I hadn’t met him, but still, ya know, I mean I kinda cost him a tail find, and I made him a new one but-"

Hiccup was interrupted by Valka's laughter.

“You ramble a lot don’t you.”
“Well, um…yeah.”

Valka smiled at him gently. “Well it’s a good thing you have Toothless here to listen.”

Hiccup smiled back. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Toothless walked back towards Hiccup, intrigued by the two’s conversation.

“You know, I didn’t think anyone else really liked dragons.”

“Well, where I’m from, there’s a whole bunch of dragons.”

“Really?” Asked Hiccup, now intrigued.

“Mhm,” Valka nodded. “You know, now that I think about it, why exactly are you all the way out here by yourself?”

Hiccup froze on the spot. “Uh, well, I may or may not have kind of run away from home disowned my people.” Hiccup was surprised at how much he was telling this person. But to be fair, he finally found someone as interested in dragons as he was.

Valka frowned at Hiccup’s answer. “Let me guess, you tried changing their minds about dragons and they didn’t listen to you.”

“How did you- “

“Just a hunch.” Valka's face softened as she seemed to think about something. “Here’s a thought, what if you come live with me.”

Hiccup looked at her shocked. “Really?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t suppose you have anywhere else to go, and, well, its been quite a while since I’ve been around other people. It’d be nice to have some non-dragon company.”

There was a moment of silence.

Finally, Valka whispered, “So…?”

Hiccup looked towards Toothless. “What do you think bud?”
 
Toothless say for a second, thinking, then finally walked towards Valka.

“Alright,” Hiccup said, “I guess we’re coming with you.”