How To Train Your Dragon One-Shots

No Book For People

***This takes place shortly after the events of the first movie. Hiccup has begun training the dragons and teaching the Vikings how to live with their new neighbors.

Dragon training was great.

Once Hiccup had fully recovered, nothing but the need for sleep and the occasional meal kept him away from the new Dragon Training Academy. Sure, it took some time for the dragons to get used to it, but they and their Viking riders made it work. Where the teens had once learned how how to keep out of a deadly nadder's line of sight, how to disorient a gronckle, and neutralize the fire of a hideous zippleback, they now trained with the dragons in order to work together as a team to defend Berk.

Hiccup was proud to say that things were going well. Though there would always be some Vikings - like the miserable Mildew - who couldn't accept this new way of life, most of the Berkians were settling into this new life. Now, when he walked through the village, he saw dragons and Vikings living together, soaring through the sky, enjoying life. Funny how people seemed better rested when they weren't constantly fighting dragons.

Of course, he had his friends to thank for helping guide Berk in this new era of peace. When they weren't training at the Academy, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and yes, even Ruffnut and Tuffnut on occasion, could be seen helping their fellow villagers learn how to interact with dragons. The lessons they took from the academy seemed to be sticking, and they all served as excellent ambassadors, along with Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, Barf, and Belch of course.

"You've all been doing such a great job around the village," Hiccup told the group one evening after a training session at the Academy. "Because of you all, Berk is doing a much better job accepting the dragons than I would have thought. I swear I even saw Mildew smile at Toothless the other day. Mildew! Imagine that."

"Sorry to break it to you, H, but uhh, Ruffnut and I may have been standing behind you at the time and..."Tuffnut paused, twirling his hands in the air as he searched for the words.

Ruffnut finished for him. "We were totally trying to set Snotlout on fire."

"Yep. Good ol' Mildew was just excited to watch the Snot-Man burn."

"We all want to watch the Snot-Man burn."

Snotlout glared at the twins and snapped his fingers, possibly as a signal for Hookfang to attack, though as usual, Hookfang grabbed Snotlout by the ankles and held him high above the ground.

Okay, so there was still room for improvement. A LOT of room for improvement.

"Well," said Hiccup, trying to ignore the fuming Snotlout, "tomorrow we'll be spending some time helping Gothi study the dragons. The more she knows about their biology, the better she'll be able to help them if they're ever injured or sick. We'll bring the Dragon Book with us and record whatever she discovers."

The meeting ended shortly afterwards, and the others began to part ways for the night.

"You're really stepping into this whole leadership thing," a voice said. Hiccup turned and saw Astrid. The others were all walking out to the village, but she had lingered at the Academy. "With the students you have, I'm surprised you've held in there this long."

Hiccup blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you know, Astrid, not all the students are terrible." Ugh, we'd he say that? Years of being ignored, ridiculed, and treated like he wasn't even a Viking hadn't prepared him for the day when Astrid Hofferson would actually speak to him on purpose. Even Toothless seemed to be embarrassed, hiding his face behind his tail fin.

But Astrid only laughed and then smiled. "Goodnight, Hiccup," she said, hopping on Stormfly and flying out into the sunset. Hiccup watched her go.

Later that evening, Hiccup found himself in the armory hammering away at a bent shield a Viking had brought in earlier. As he tried bending it back into shape, he said, "I wish people were as easy to understand as dragons. Dragons make sense. They don't like eels, so I don't give them eels. They love being scratched on their necks, so I scratch them on their necks. Dragons love conversations, and I can talk to them all day long. But people? They're so...complicated."

"Have I ever told you about the time your father and I sailed from here to Berserker Island?" asked Gobber. While Hiccup was working on the shield, Gobber was melting down some old and worn down weapons that no amount of sharpening could help.

Hiccup shook his head.

"Well," Gobber began, "we were both young at the time, about your age in fact. We were competing in the great regatta, and about four days later it dawned on me that we may have gone off course."

"Four days? Gobber, the regatta course is only about an hour long..."

"So as I was saying, we finally saw land and got off at Berserker Island where our good friend, Oswald the Agreeable, lives. But of course he and the other Berserkers didn't recognize us at the time since we were covered in war paint and had flags flying on every inch of our vessel, and after that final catapult projectile finally managed to sink the ship, your father and I had to swim to shore. Mind you, your father was just about ready to throw me overboard himself, so the catapult didn't really change much about how our day was going. It really just sped things along. But anyway, once we eventually got back to Berk and your father started speaking to me again, I realized something important."

Gobber paused, looking expectantly at Hiccup.

"What did you learn?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm so glad you asked! Thank you, Hiccup. There is no book for people."

"What do you mean?"

"You got that handy Book of Dragons that you've been rewriting and using to help you and others live with dragons. People are learning through your words how to live with these creatures we once tried to kill. But there isn't a book for people. In order to understand people, you have to talk to other people. Sometimes things will go well, and sometimes they wont, but there's no other way to learn how to interact with your fellow Vikings. You just have to get on out there and experience things."

The next day after Gothi had finished her work for the day, Hiccup and the others had their usual end of day meeting at the academy. He praised them for another good day's work, told them what tomorrow's plan was, and wished them all a good night.

As she had the previous evening, Astrid hung back after the others had left.

"Working with Gothi was a great idea," she said. "I don't think we've ever added so much new information about dragons we're already familiar with to the Book of Dragons."

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, it really was a productive day." He grabbed his arm, trying to think of something else to say.

"Well, goodnight." Astrid waved and began climbing onto Stormfly.

There is no book of people.

"Hey, Astrid!"

Astrid was already on the saddle and about to tell Stormfly to start flying. She stopped and turned around. "Hiccup?"

Now was the time. Like Gobber had said, he just had to put himself out there and actually talk to her. Him, Hiccup, the guy who no Viking wanted to even be around until recently.

"Umm, Astrid...Toothless and I, well, we were thinking of taking one last flight around the island. You and Stormfly...you're welcome to join us. If you want." He spoke fast and avoided eye contact as he did. There was no way she'd fly with him. It was late and she only kissed him that one time because he had survived. There was no world in which-

"Absolutely."

"I'm sorry?"

"I said absolutely."

Hiccup glanced up and saw that Astrid was smiling. Stormfly and Toothless both seemed to be grimacing, but Astrid, Astrid Hofferson, was smiling.

"Oh, that's...great. Yeah, let me just..." Hiccup got on top of Toothless, and then the four of them took off from the academy and flew off into the sunset.