How to Train Your Dragon: Rewrite

Chapter 5: A New Friend

This chapter contains minor swearing, mentions of bullying and past physical abuse.

Later that night, after Astrid had begrudgingly given up the chase to catch Hicca, Gobber and the recruits are seated at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, toasting fish and bits of chicken around a roaring bonfire. 

"...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face." Gobber states mid-story.

"Can't deny it." He mutters before getting louder and more rambunctious again. "I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." 

Gobber dramatically points at each limb as he tries to breathe more life into his story to entertain the children.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon." Fishlegs takes a hearty bite out of one of his chicken drumsticks and hastily swallows so he can continue before someone interrupts him. 

"Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something." He starts to grow quiet near the end, as if he thought that what he said sounded stupid.

"I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face." Snotlout says as he poses to Astrid. 

She rolls her eyes and scoots even further away from him, towards Hicca.

Hicca stands and slowly shuffles to move her spot away from Astrid, sitting next to Tuffnut, but still a distance from him too. 

Tuffnut watches her with veiled concern.

She's moving differently from earlier… Did she get hurt again…? What happened…? Wait… why should I care…?! 

…Because… because she's different… 

Gobber also carefully watches his charge as she scoots past him away from her female friend before turning back towards Snotlout and the others, speaking, with a mouthful,

"Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Hicca tries to hide just how horrified she is from that simple sentence. It's so obvious, and yet, the thought never crossed her mind. She glances to Tuffnut out of the corner of her eye and sees him slightly looking towards her, his eyes looking a little wider. With shock or realization, she wasn't sure.

Gobber stands and stretches as if he didn't just bring the world crashing down around two young vikings. 

"Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare." He chuckles with his playful taunt. "But who'll win the honor of killing it?" 

He gives a final smirk before he hobbles off, leaving the teens to reflect. 

"It's gonna be Tuff." Ruffnut says in a matter of fact way.

There's a beat of silence as all the teens stare at her, each in a varying state of disbelief and/or confusion.

"It's his dumb faced destiny. See?" Ruffnut rolls up her brother's sleeve before he has a chance to react, to reveal a red dragon on his arm.

Tuffnut jerks his arm away suddenly from her action. 

"Your mom let you get a tattoo?" Fishlegs gasps in astonishment.

"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark." Tuffnut defends while shooting daggers at his twin.

"I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before." Ruffnut goads her brother on.