The StormStriker and the Night Fury

6. Hero's Heart Breaks

Hero stands next to Hiccup outside of the arena. This was his final exam, to kill the Monstrous Nightmare and everybody was so excited to see it. Stoick makes a speech about how proud he was on his son and how he's expecting him to do great but Hiccup didn't feel anything good from it as the grip he has on his helmet tightens.

"Go...tame the Monstrous Nightmare." Hero says, crossing their arms. "Hope your mother's breast hat makes it easier."

That last part was a joke but it seemed like Hiccup wasn't even listening, just staring at his dad. "Hero..." He mutters, turning to his friend. "If anything goes wrong, promise me you'll continue to take care of our dragons."

"Of course. You don't have to worry about that part. Just...focus on this and try not to die." Hero lightly punches Hiccup's chest. "It's going to be even harder for me to learn how to use Toothless' tailfin without your help."

Hiccup goes to say something but Gobber interrupts him. "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead."

Hiccup lets out a deep breath as he puts his helmet on and walks into the arena. The cheering gets louder and he could even hear his classmates cheer as well.

Astrid walks towards Hero and puts hand on their shoulder. "Think he'll be okay?" She asks.

"Rather not give myself false hope." Hero says, fidgeting with their hands.

Hiccup walks towards the weapon stash and awkwardly takes a shield and small dagger from it. "I'm ready." He says, holding his shield up. The gates open and the Monstrous Nightmare bursts out of it, its entire body on fire. It first tries to find a way to escape but once it doesn't see any, it focuses on Hiccup and slowly crawls towards him as Hiccup slowly backs up.

Hiccup drops his weapons and hovers his hands over the dragon's face, trying to calm it down. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay." He assures before noticing the dragon was focusing on his hat, seeing that as a weapon as well. Hiccup takes it off and throws it to the side stating, "I'm not one of them."

The crowd gasps in shock and talk in quiet murmurs.

"Stop the fight." Stoick demands, standing up.

"No!" Hiccup shouts, focusing back on the Monstrous Nightmare. "I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

"I said stop the fight!!!!" Stoick's voice booms as he slams his hammer into the cage, denting it.

The Monstrous Nightmare's eyes turn into slits and it tries to bite Hiccup's hand. Hiccup yelps and runs away from it, narrowly dodging its blast of fire.

"Hiccup!!!" Hero shouts as Astrid gets an ax from nearby and uses it to lodge the gate open enough for Hero to crawl under. Astrid follows from behind and looks around, seeing a hammer on the ground. She quickly picks it up and throws it at the Monstrous Nightmare who growls at the pain and starts to chase after Astrid and Hero.

Stoick, who had run down to where they were, fully opened the gate with his bare hands and called for them to come over. "This way!!!"

Astrid and Hero quickly make their way over there but Hiccup is blocked by another blast from the Monstrous Nightmare. He tries to dodge it and run away but the dragon bounces on him and holds him down with its claws.

Hero slides under Stoick's arm and takes their spear out. They use the bottom of it to hook onto the dragon's mouth and pull it away from Hiccup who quickly stands back up.

"Hero!" Hiccup calls as Hero pushes him behind them.

"Hero, get out of there!" They hear their mother call.