(HTTYD) To Protect Its Own

Hiccup's Changed.

Astrid POV

That man was Hiccup. It has been hours since the masked man revealed himself as Hiccup, but I still couldn't believe it. When Gobber took off his mask, I couldn't contain my surprise when I saw the uncanny resemblance. Hiccup was still alive. And he abandoned his village. My surprise turned to anger. The gang and I would walk by Stoick's house just in case if Hiccup woke up. But imagine our surprise when I saw the boy walking through the village himself.

"Can you believe that is Hiccup?" Fishlegs said in awe. Nope. I wouldn't. If not for his scar on his chin, I would've thought he was someone else. He changed. He wasn't a runt anymore. Now that he has taken off his mask, his face was open for everyone to see.  His hair was longer and more unruly than before, braided at some sides. He has a scar on his eyebrow now and he was taller.

"He changed so much! Where do you think he got the peg leg?" Tuffnut said while gesturing to Hiccup. I glanced at his leg. I admit I was curious. How did he lose his leg? Instead of a left leg, he now was sporting a prosthetic leg. The metal gleamed under the sun and I can see he carved his initials on the surface. Hiccup went inside the forge and opened the windows. His eyes met mine for a moment, but he quickly looked away. I scowled as he turned from us and tended to the fire.

"And those abs. Mmmm man of Thor am I right?" At Ruffnut's comment, I scoffed. Hiccup may have been gone for three years, but he is still Hiccup. A tool and a coward. Hiccup was heating up steel and hammering on it loudly. I narrowed my eyes at what he was making. What is it? It looked to be a metal frame. He was now cutting leather, fitting it to the metal frame. My eyes widened when I realized what he is making.

"He's making a tail," I said aloud. Fishlegs gasped and started mumbling about something. The twins replied in admiration. Snotlout, of course, didn't believe that. 

I frowned. Hiccup was done, holding a basket on one shoulder and the "tail" under the other arm. Before I knew it, he started running in the forest.

"Let's follow him." I started running after him, but then I was stopped by a hook.

"What are you doing, missy?" I looked up at Gobber's expression, one eyebrow up.

"Nothing." Gobber didn't seem to believe me and crossed his arms suspiciously.

"Uhuh." He said disbelievingly. "If you're doing what I think you're doing then stop. We finally got Hiccup back and I don't want you to scare him off. "

"He's not Hiccup." Gobber raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, he's Hiccup alright. Sure, he's taller, stronger, and lives with dragons now, but he's my apprentice." Gobber then glared at us, making me feel a shiver down my spine.

"It's been three years, Astrid. Don't think Hiccup can't defend himself anymore." 

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Back at the cove.....

"Isn't the dragon amazing?" Fishleg said with wonder, tightly clutching his notebook. I scoffed. Dragons are dragons, feeding on people and creating chaos.  The Night Fury didn't care to look at us, just resting in the sunlight.

"Please, the Night Fury is the offspring of lightning and death. He's just Thor's mistake." Then, he looked up at me and growled in response before going back down.

"Harsh, Astrid. Didn't Hiccup say that his name was Toothless?" Tuffnut said while trying to get closer to the black dragon. The dragon didn't let him get closer before he snarled at him.

"Well, whatever his name is, he looks awesome! Ya think Hiccup would give me a dragon?" Tuffnut said while staring at the dragon with awe.

"What do you think the contraption on his back is for?" Snotlout said curiously.

"Why don't you ask the rider?" I turned around to see Hiccup eying me humorously. He was sitting, cross-legged and surrounded by about five or six Terrible Terrors. On his shoulder, perched a Terror, in which he scratched under the chin. The little reptile purred and nudged in affection. Hiccup was looking at us with an eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing here?" He said with a frown. No one said anything. After all, he was leisurely relaxing around dragons. The terrors started running around, looking at us curiously. At reflex, I lifted my axe and the terrors growled and went back to Hiccup. Hiccup glared at me before reassuring them nothing was going to happen. The terrors were crawling all over him, some on his shoulders, some on his head, some on his lap, but Hiccup didn't care. He was just laughing. Suddenly, the Night Fury roared, startling everyone, except of course Hiccup. The terrors stopped crawling over Hiccup and scattered. Hiccup finally stopped laughing and stood up.

"Ok, no one answer. I can assume that you were following me." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. I felt heat behind my ears of how he easily knew.

"Ok Rascals. It's time for you to leave." Hiccup patted the Terrible Terrors, gesturing them to fly away. The reptiles whined in protest but one reprimand from him was enough for them to take flight. The terrors circled around him, crooning goodbye before flying away. Hiccup waved goodbye with a smile before turning back to us. He deliberately passed us before leaning on the Night Fury, not breaking eye contact with me.

"What can I do for you?" He said while crossing his arms.  He looked at us individually with an indifferent expression. "Fishlegs. Ruff. Tuff. Snotlout." He turned to me with cold eyes.

"Astrid." I bristled in hostility and before thinking, I threw my ax at him. He dodged it with a flick of his neck. He didn't move his legs. He aligned his neck back and stared at me with the same indifference.  We were all surprised. No one could dodge my aim, except Stoick.

"Strong, but horrible aim." He said while stroking the Night Fury. "You all look well."

"You don't belong here." Hiccup stopped and looked at us. The dragon started snarling, making me step back in caution.

"Stand down, Toothless." He said in a calm voice. Toothless stopped growling and said nothing. Hiccup looked at us in silence before shrugging nonchalantly.

"Maybe so." Then, Hiccup smirked. "But I'm staying."

"Why?" He looked at us with a serious look.

"To prove a point." He said with sincere. He proceeded to scratch his dragon's ear, who purred. "Dragons aren't what you think they are."

"Dragons are killers! They don't deserve mercy!" Snotlout shouted in anger. I nodded in agreement. Hiccup glared at us, full of anger and irritation.

"How would you know?!" He said with a shout. He turned to Snotlout, looking him in the eyes.

"You never even gave them a chance. There is nothing a dragon won't do for you once you earned its loyalty. " Hiccup said with a growl. "So tell me again, what do you know?"

His expression was furious as well as disappointed. Then, I realized that we really didn't give him a chance. Maybe, we can use dragons to protect our village. "Then teach us," I said. I was surprised when those words came out. Hiccup looked confused as well.

"What?"

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