How to Deal With Amnesia

Chapter 19: Demonstration

Hiccup was sure he'd been less anxious if he had remembered doing that before. Now, he was standing in front of an angry Monstrous Nightmare, of all the dragons, it had to be a mad lizard that sets itself on fire, Hiccup thought to himself as he approached it.

When he suggested going to the arena, he thought he'd have to deal with their own dragons. He didn't expect the A Team to have collected a few dragons for a little demonstration. But if he had thought it through better, he'd known a real demonstration with wild dragons would have been the best. The visitors had already seen the domestic dragons, now they needed to see how a wild dragon could become a domestic one. Hiccup knew it was the best, however, it didn't make him feel any better.

At least he was relieved that he got a memory flash of Hookfang going on a rampage after hearing a loud and acute sound. If Hookfang, who was crazier then, could become a domestic dragon that respected him, then this one could be as well. And it was a magnificent dragon, in a really rare shade of silver and black; usually, Monstrous Nightmares were like Hookfang, red and black, or with other colors around green and pink.

Hiccup shushed soothingly, trying to calm the dragon down. Growling, the dragon backed away, surprising everyone in the arena and the chiefs who were observing from the outside.

"Easy, Big Boy. It's okay." He whispered, raising a hand to the dragon's snout.

Hiccup knew he had been through something similar with Hookfang, but he didn't remember that clearly, all he really knew was the first time he touched Toothless, and the feelings were strong and amazing.

Maybe Astrid was right, he didn't need his memories, they didn't define who he was; after all, he was acting on sheer instinct, and it was working! The silver dragon had stopped growling and was now watching at him with a mix of curios and suspicious look.

"It's okay. We don't want to hurt you." He kept calming him. "I've never seen a Nightmare like you before, you're very beautiful." Hiccup kept his arm extended, but he wouldn't go further, he knew he had to wait for the dragon to have a leap of faith and touch him by its own will.

"Why are you talking to the beast?" Warthog demanded and the dragon turned to growl at him in the same second.

"Because they can understand us. I don't know how, but they are usually much more intelligent than other animals. They do understand what we say in a different level than a sheep or a trained dog does. And they don't like being called 'beasts'."

"No wonder, if I were that magnificent, I wouldn't like it either." Thuggory said, looking at the Nightmare in awe, then, he turned to Warthog. "And you better not call him like that again or I'll punch it."

The dragon turned to look at him with curiosity.

"See? There are nice people here. We just want to get to know you a little bit. We don't want to attack you or hurt you. Just let us show you, if you let us close." Then, he turned his head to the other side, closing his eyes and waiting the dragon to do the next move.

"I love it when he does the hand thing!" Fishlegs said excitedly as the dragon approached the scrawny boy until he touched its snout on his hand.

Hiccup smiled. "Thuggory, since you liked him so much, why don't you get closer and try to bond with him?"

"Me?"

"Why not? You liked him and you're willing to get to know dragons better. I think this one would be perfect for you." So Thuggory smiled and jumped forward.

"Hey, I wanted to be the first!" Camicazi complained a bit bored and amazed at the same time, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry, Cami, good things come to those who wait. You'll be the next."