Communication is the key between riders and dragons.
Even more when they are flying on our backs; after all, we are the masters of the sky and we know how to fly.
But humans also help us avoid dangers we don't immediately see.
o0o0o
Lua didn't need to go with them, since it was rider-and-dragon training. Something about building more trust and clear communication.
Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have a rider. Sure, Hiccup rides on her back sometimes, but Toothless is his dragon, not her.
"Let's go, low flight," Hiccup said to Toothless.
Lua flew right above them, watching with admiration as the riders and dragons (Hiccup and Toothless, and Astrid and Stormfly) flew in perfect sync (Astrid and Stormfly messed up a little, but it was minimal), struggling not to laugh at cases like Snotlout and Hookfang: Snotlout wants to control, but he has no motor coordination, unlike Hookfang.
"Hm," Lua also felt jealous.
She was the only one without a permanent rider. She felt passed around because of it, since technically speaking, anyone could fly on her if their dragon was unavailable for any reason.
Lua only didn't see Fishlegs or Tuffnut. She found that strange and flew lower, trying to find them when suddenly...
"Flaming squirrel!" she roared in surprise and almost hit a tree.
She landed and felt very happy—after all, she was finally in an episode of the series! It might not seem like it, but some episodes can take days or weeks to happen. During that time everything gets very tedious, or there are small adventures like training, helping a Viking or a dragon with simple problems, nothing too grand.
And this was definitely one of Lua's top 10 episodes, since she always found baby dragons very cute and funny. Lua sniffed the air, trying to find that baby dragon.
"Come on, where are you?" she murmured to herself while searching the forest.
Lua walked through the woods, trying to find that "flaming squirrel." Finally, she found a small shelter and caught the smell of a dragon trail and burnt wood.
"Hello?" Lua called, stepping forward carefully.
Suddenly, something burst out of the den, flying and screaming in terror. Lua was startled and quickly ducked. It was the baby Typhoomerang, who was understandably terrified when he saw Lua and tried to flee.
"Wait! I won't hurt you!" Lua roared as she ran after him.
The hatchling ran and spread his wings, trying to escape, but didn't succeed when his tail got stuck in some branches. He looked at her, scared, and trembled.
Lua frowned—seems like her species is really feared among dragons—or most dragons have an aversion to them.
Probably because they look scary and are naturally hostile.
"It's okay." Lua approached slowly and gently removed the branches from his tail.
The little dragon looked at her in surprise and approached her once he was free. He didn't seem to be trembling anymore; he was calm, but still hesitant.
Lua touched her snout to his, and he returned the gesture—it almost looked like he smiled. Until a rumble was heard by both dragons. The little hatchling spread his wings and flew off.
"Not again!" Lua muttered as she ran after him.
The little dragon shot a fireball forward, preventing Hiccup and Toothless from taking off. He flew as fast as the fireball and hid in a small cave.
Hiccup and Toothless were startled by the fireball the hatchling had launched earlier and both shouted: "Flaming squirrel!"
Hiccup approached the hatchling carefully, who slowly left his hiding spot, seeming to trust him. Lua jumped forward to get closer to them, startling them.
"Ah! Lua, don't scare us like that!" Hiccup scolded—and cried out in pain when the hatchling climbed onto him and dug in his claws.
Lua growled low and lowered her head. Being scolded by Hiccup was never pleasant. Toothless approached her and snorted when he looked at the hatchling.
"Hiccup has to leave him here! If there's a hatchling, there's a mother!" Toothless exclaimed.
"But he's just a tiny baby and he's alone! What if wild boars or wolves attack him?!" Lua asked.
"I'm sure he'll be fine... Besides, I've got a bad feeling," Toothless said; the little dragon seemed familiar, but he couldn't tell from where.
Lua knows where it comes from. She remembers the episode—after all, she is a die-hard fan of How to Train Your Dragon. But she also knows that eventually she might not remember, or her mere presence might change everything—most likely involving Dagur, she guessed.
Certainly, the most memorable episodes she wouldn't forget over the days... or years.
Lua wonders if she'll ever return home someday, but prefers to keep that locked away and not think about it, so she won't feel longing, sadness, or guilt.
Either way, Hiccup took the hatchling with him despite Toothless's protest.
o0o0o
In the Dragon Arena. The other riders admired the little hatchling, but they had to decide what to do with him.
The small hatchling had attacked Toughnut after he provoked him; he bit Toughnut's nose hard (luckily his teeth were still baby teeth and he didn't have much strength).
"Come on, guys. Seriously," Hiccup picked him up in his arms. "We need to think about what to do with him. He's hurt."
"He's hurt?" Tuffnut asked sarcastically while rubbing his red, painful nose.
"He's just a little scared, that's all," Hiccup said, petting the hatchling.
"Uh, hello? New species, remember? We have no idea what he can do," Fishlegs exclaimed.
"Yeah, but someone is going to have to take him home," Astrid commented.
With that, all the riders took steps away from Hiccup (who was holding the hatchling). None of them wanted to keep the baby dragon after what he did to tuffnut, already considering him a little troublemaker.
"Well, buddy, you're coming with me," Hiccup said with a half-smile.
Lua and Toothless were waiting for Hiccup outside along with the other dragons. Toothless growled low when he saw Hiccup approaching with the hatchling in his arms. Lua just poked him with the spike on her nose.
o0o0o
"No! No! No! He's not staying," Stoick said. "We already have two dragons in the house! There's no room for a third."
"Exactly," Toothless said with an ironic smile, satisfied with Stoick's words.
Lua rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, Dad. He's not even that big... Look... He l–looks like a flaming squirrel," Hiccup stuttered a bit as he searched for the right word to describe the hatchling.
"I don't want one of those either," Stoick said as he threw wood into the house's fire pit. "Toothless, what are you waiting for?" Stoick signaled for the Night Fury to light it.
Toothless prepared to spit a plasma blast and start the fire, but the hatchling was faster once he noticed the intention. Toothless sat down in shock.
"Yeah, looks like you got burned," Stoick said, holding back laughter.
"Crap," Toothless growled.
Lua burst out laughing, and Toothless huffed.
"Oh! I know what his name will be: Torch!" Stoick said.
"So he stays?" Hiccup asked hopefully.
"Well, I can't kick him out now. I gave him a name," Stoick replied. Toothless growled, disappointed with Stoick's decision.
o0o0o
Hiccup dragged two baskets full of fish.
"One hundred for each of you two, and one for you," he said, placing a fish in front of Torch.
Toothless licked his lips and watched Hiccup walk away. He looked back at his basket and was ready to take the first bite... but there was no fish left.
Toothless stared, stunned, at the hatchling, who licked his lips.
Lua quickly ate her own food and then looked at the hatchling, who chirped at her, wanting attention.
"What...? Oh!" Lua understood when he opened his mouth.
Lua had to make an effort to regurgitate some fish (partially chewed) back up and vomited everything into the hatchling's mouth, who happily ate and savored it until he was full.
"You've got to be kidding me?! That little pest ate my food and a bit of yours too!" Toothless growled, making the hatchling hide behind Lua. "And you! You fed him like that! He's not from your clutch of eggs, and you're certainly not his mother!"
Lua growled and stood protectively in front of the hatchling.
"Don't talk to me or to him like that! And what does it matter to you if I fed him?! That's my problem! Hatchlings need to eat well so they'll be strong dragons when they grow up! What's gotten into you?! You've been so annoying lately!" Lua growled and huffed at him.
Lua did know the reason, but she wasn't going to let Toothless act like that just because—and she certainly wasn't going to excuse him.
Toothless fell silent. Hiccup approached when he heard the commotion.
"Wow, you two really were hungry," he said, dragging the baskets elsewhere.
"Don't talk to me unless it's to apologize to me and to Torch," Lua said, then looked at the hatchling, purring at him.
The hatchling chirped more calmly and climbed onto her back. Lua went up to the upper floor of the house to settle into her resting spot.
"Females..." Toothless rolled his eyes and silently went to his own place.
o0o0o
"This is where you're going to sleep," Hiccup had set up a bed of an acceptable size for a dragon Torch's size.
But Torch had other plans. Lua warmed up her part of the bed—the part she shares with Toothless—and lay down. Torch ran straight to her.
Lua lifted her head and allowed the little one to snuggle close to her. She covered him with her wing and curled her neck around him, keeping him protected and warm.
Toothless saw this and made a disgusted face. Not only had the hatchling stolen his food, but now he was stealing his place in bed with Lua?! The Night Fury grumbled about it and decided to sleep on the house beam instead, growling. Lua responded by whipping her tail on the bed and giving him an irritated look.
Toothless rolled his eyes.
"I hope he sleeps well. He ate so little," Hiccup said.
Toothless roared in complaint.
"Poor thing! He'll starve!" he said sarcastically.
"And you, go to sleep," Hiccup said, blowing out the candle and lying down.
Lua gave Toothless one last look before lowering her head and sleeping next to the hatchling, not worrying about anything else except her wonderful dream.
o0o0o
The next day, Hiccup took Torch so they could run some tests. The dragons decided to stay in separated groups—males and females. Lua told Stormfly and Meatlug about how Toothless had been unbearable and annoying.
Toothless complained to Hookfang and Barf and Belch about how Lua was being bossy and annoying about the hatchling.
"I swear, he/she is driving me crazy!" Toothless and Lua briefly glared at each other—it even looked like sparks were flying from their eyes.
Stormfly andMeatlug exchanged looks; they seemed entertained by the whole situation.
Hookfang and Belch and Barf agreed with Toothless in his claims about females and their bossy nature. Males will be males, especially young ones just past adolescence.
"You know... I say he's jealous," Stormfly said with a teasing look.
"Jealous? Of what? He's being annoying, that's what!" Lua growled softly.
"I've seen this a lot, you know. Males always get jealous when females feed a hatchling that isn't theirs," Meatlug said with a little laugh.
"What do you mean? Every male is like that? Weird," Lua raised an eyebrow.
The two females laughed at her innocence.
"Not all, of course—only in specific situations like this," Meatlug continued.
"And what situation would that be?" Lua tilted her head.
"You're still young, Lua. You'll understand when the time comes," Stormfly said.
Lua hated being left out of conversations. Stormfly and Meatlug were relatively older dragons—nothing extreme, but certainly older. Toothless and Lua were the youngest dragons in the group.
Suddenly, Fishlegs pulled out an eel and showed it to the dragons. They all backed away in fear, scattering to the sides.
Toothless took the opportunity to leave the arena and perch on a rock to keep watch. Now he would ignore everything and everyone.
Lua looked to the side and saw that Fishlegs had shown the eel to Troch, making her tense—however, Torch simply ate the eel and was fine, making Lua sigh in relief.
"Now we just need to make him fly," Fishlegs said.
"Maybe if he sees Toothless fly—" Hiccup looked around the arena and didn't see the dragon, but then spotted him on a rock outside. "Toothless! Come on, buddy, let's fly!" Toothless even looked up when called, but still didn't go. "Toothless..." Hiccup sighed. "Alright then, Lua."
The Skrill stepped forward and Hiccup was about to mount her—until Snotlout interrupted.
"Some dragon rider you are," Snotlout mocked sarcastically. "Leave it to me."
"Look, Snotlout, I think it's better if Lua and I—"
"I said! Leave it to me!" Snotlout climbed onto Hookfang. "Watch and learn."
Hookfang spread his wings and flew off—but he seemed too fast, as his rider called for him and he ignored it. Hookfang barrel-rolled and spun in the air. His flight was far too aggressive, and then he returned to the arena.
"Uh—" Snotlout had to hold back the urge to throw up. "Your turn, but you won't do better."
Torch spread his wings and even flew a little, but soon landed. The riders gathered in a circle, observing curiously, commenting on how confused they were and worried that he might have an injury and/or a wing defect.
But suddenly Torch began releasing sparks from his mouth and spinning in circles around the arena, showing his great ability to fly.
He made one last spin and landed. The riders admired his flight skill, as well as the burn marks on the ground in a vortex pattern.
"Did you see how he flew?! He looked like a—like a typhoon!" Fishlegs said excitedly.
"Yeah! And he came back just like a boomerang!" Astrid added.
"Hot Spinner! The Spinning-Burning Flame!" Snotlout was dying to name the species.
"No! Typhoomerang!" Fishlegs suddenly said, his voice even sounding more confident.
"Typhoomerang? I don't get it," poor Snotlout said—he was an idiot.
o0o0o
It was nighttime, and they were back at Hiccup's house. Lua watched, amused by the antics the hatchling was making.
"Wait, hold on a second," Hiccup said as he looked at Torch. "I want to draw you. You're getting your own chapter, you know?"
Hiccup then played with the hatchling, who was wearing his helmet. Hiccup imitated roars and claws with his hands, teasing and entertaining the little dragon.
Suddenly, Lua lifted her head when she heard a roar, though it was hard to distinguish since the noises from outside were muffled inside the house—and it could've been any other dragon.
Out of nowhere, Toothless burst through the window and ran in so fast he startled Hiccup, causing him to drop his pencil.
"Ah! Toothless!" Hiccup said, seeing the charcoal had snapped. "Now I'll have to get more charcoal."
Hiccup stood up and headed toward the stairs.
"You three behave," he said before going down.
Toothless turned and accidentally hit the hatchling with his tail, and Torch retaliated by biting Toothless's tail. Toothless roared in pain and surprise. He swung his tail, trying to shake Torch off. Lua growled and tried to jump on Toothless to keep him from hurting Flame.
Torch fired a small fireball that struck the dragons' bed. Lua roared in panic when she saw the flames and began flapping her wings to try to put them out by creating wind—only making them grow.
Hiccup saw this and rushed back upstairs, shocked at the chaos. He quickly grabbed a blanket and put out the flames with Lua's help.
"Toothless! What was that?!"
Torch jumped into Hiccup's arms, and Lua stayed by his side protectively. Toothless grumbled and bolted back out the window.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get scared too," Hiccup muttered, petting Lua to calm her down, knowing the Skrill would stay beside him.
o0o0o
Hiccup was now at the forge with Gobber, wanting to talk to someone older and more experienced about Toothless's strange behavior.
"Oh great! My first girlfriend is a dragon!" Hiccup said sarcastically.
"Something we have in common. Must be more to it than that," Gobber replied, hammering a steel sword. "Dragons are complex, Hiccup. They've got many emotional layers. Me? I only have one."
Suddenly, Toothless arrived, roaring and growling, completely agitated—even panting. Lua wasn't around to handle him; she had left early to fish.
"See?! That's exactly what I was telling you about," Hiccup said, frowning. "Toothless, calm down."
Torch jumped from Hiccup's arms and ran to Toothless, who immediately grabbed him by the scruff.
"Gobber, get him!" Hiccup shouted in panic.
"Oh! You wanna dance, big boy?! 'Cause I've got my dancing shoe on!" Gobber said, stomping his foot to make his point.
Torch struggled and sparked to escape Toothless's jaws. Toothless roared and gave chase, but Gobber threw himself forward and grabbed Toothless's tail—though it was useless. The Night Fury dragged Gobber around while chasing Torch, until Gobber couldn't hold on anymore.
"My pan flute! Now I can gather the band!" Gobber cheered as he recovered his flute.
Toothless kept chasing Torch, but in the distance another roar could be heard. It seemed Lua had returned from fishing, dropping her catch on the ground. Lua growled and dove toward them, placing herself in front of Hiccup and Flame (who hid behind them).
"Toothless, back off!" Hiccup ordered with a serious look.
"Don't you dare!" Lua snarled.
Toothless stared at the Skrill with eyes full of determination and irritation. It almost looked like a dragons' staring contest.
The tension eased when Gobber played his pan flute.
"Gobber, you're not helping," Hiccup said, losing his whole posture.
"Sorry," Gobber apologized.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, Toothless, but I don't like it," Hiccup said as he stepped out from behind Lua.
Toothless snorted and then left.
Gobber played his pan flute again but stopped when Hiccup gave him a look.
"What?" he asked.
o0o0o
Night had already fallen. Hiccup had taken Toothless straight to the cove until Torch could leave after recovering. Lua approached Hiccup, and he rubbed her snout.
"I know, girl. I didn't want to do that either, but I didn't have a choice," he sighed and tapped her snout. "Good night."
Lua purred before leaving to join the hatchling on the bed, falling asleep while thinking about Toothless and his arrogant behavior—though honestly, she wasn't even that angry anymore, just upset.
o0o0o
The dragons and dragon riders were gathered in the arena.
"You did the right thing with Toothless. He'll come around," Astrid said while sitting on Stormfly.
"Yeah! But what if he doesn't? Then you won't have any dragon to ride, and if you don't have any dragon to ride, you won't be able to lead the Dragon Academy! Ha!" Snotlout celebrated.
"Yeah? And then I'd be the leader—do you really want that? Besides, Hiccup has Lua too," Astrid said with a smirk.
"But Lua is just a backup dragon," Snotlout retorted.
"Hey! I am not a backup dragon!" Lua growled.
The twins entered riding their dragon.
"You won't believe what we just saw," Ruffnut said.
"Excuse me, we're having a power dispute here," Snotlout said as if it were obvious.
"We're not having a power dispute," Hiccup said.
"The entire forest was completely destroyed," Ruffnut said, putting dramatic emphasis on entire and destroyed.
"How beautiful! The whole thing burned down!" Tuffnut added excitedly.
"I want to see it," Hiccup said, mounting Lua. Flame climbed up behind him as well.
Then the riders headed off to where the forest had been destroyed.
o0o0o
The arrival at the forest was revealing: a trail of trees completely knocked over, ripped from the ground by something huge, and several burn marks. Whatever dragon caused this was a big one.
Lua knew exactly which one it was, but she had to keep a surprised expression if she wanted to maintain the persona she had created here.
"As we said... totally destroyed!" Tuffnut said.
"We've seen this type of burn mark before," Hiccup said, examining the scorched ground.
"But never this big," Astrid added, not wanting to see whatever had made it.
"You know what this burn mark means?" Fishlegs began.
"It means big flame."
As if by magic, an adult Typhoomerang appeared in the sky, spewing fire.
"Look! It seems really angry," Ruffnut commented.
"Except it's not him, it's her! That's Torch's mother," Hiccup said, putting two and two together.
"Torch is a baby?!" Astrid quickly followed Hiccup's math.
"That's what Toothless was trying to tell me..." Hiccup clenched his fist.
"We'd better not let her see us with this baby... She'll burn everything!" Fishlegs quickly passed the hatchling to the others.
"You take him!"
"I don't want him!"
"It's better to leave him and get out of here!" Snotlout shoved the hatchling into Hiccup's arms.
Lua's jaw dropped. Of course, she already knew the dragon would be huge, but seeing it in person was something else.
Suddenly Torch roared, catching his mother's attention. She looked relieved but also furious to see her precious hatchling. She immediately roared back and flew straight toward them.
"Look, you have to go to your mother, okay?!" Hiccup set the hatchling on the ground.
The other dragon riders were already running to their own dragons, and Hiccup ran toward Lua, mounting her.
"You guys go that way! Lua and I will lead her away from the village!" he shouted.
Lua spread her wings and flew through the forest, but Torch followed them, which made his mother follow as well.
"Kidnappers! I'll burn you alive for taking my hatchling!" the mother roared.
"Look! We didn't do anything!" Lua roared back in panic, dodging her flames.
"We're heading to Toothless, Lua!" Hiccup said, directing her toward the cove.
"Stop following us!"
He saw they were getting close to where he had left Toothless, so he prepared to jump off Lua's back.
"Toothless!" Hiccup called out.
The dragon responded happily, though with an arrogant air of being right about the danger.
"You were right. I should've listened to you!" Hiccup said, relieved to see Toothless there.
The Night Fury and the Skrill dodged the Torch's Mother. Instead of chasing Toothless and Hiccup like in the original story, she was targeting Lua with ferocity.
Lua noticed that Torch was on her back.
"No! Little one, you have to go to your mother!" Lua dodged another blast of fire.
"Lua!" Toothless flew up beside her, worried.
"Lua! You need to use your body against hers! Go up!" Hiccup flew beside them, avoiding the flames.
"Dive!"
The dragons shot upward, then dove toward the trees. The two smaller dragons easily twisted their bodies to avoid crashing into the branches, but Torch's Mother wasn't so lucky. She slammed into the trees and the ground with full force, falling unconscious.
Toothless and Lua landed.
Torch roared in distress and ran to his mother, nudging her to wake her up.
"Do you think she's okay?"
Fortunately, yes—she was.
Torch's mother awoke and looked lovingly and with relief at her returning hatchling. From her back, two other hatchlings emerged: one yellow and one blue. They ran to greet their brother, chirping and playing.
"Finally, everyone's where they belong," Hiccup said, stroking Toothless.
Torch climbed onto his mother's back with his siblings. She didn't stay much longer before spreading her wings. When she took off, sparks erupted around her, and she soared into the sky.
"Let's go home," Hiccup said, exhausted from all the chasing.
o0o0o
Again, at night, back at home. Hiccup gave a fish to Toothless and Lua.
"You were just trying to protect us," Hiccup said, petting him. "It's what you do."
Suddenly, Toothless regurgitated a piece of fish into Hiccup's lap.
"And... you do that too," Hiccup said awkwardly.
Lua was quiet, thinking about what to do. Toothless walked over to her after making sure Hiccup ate at least one bite of the fish.
He looked anxious, as if waiting for something from her. Lua snorted, already knowing what he wanted.
"Sorry... I should have listened to you and trusted you," Lua said, turning her face away.
Toothless had thought he'd feel better after that, but he quickly realized he didn't. He didn't feel happy or proud for being right—he felt... strange.
But he knew what he had to do to earn Lua's forgiveness too.
"I need to apologize as well... I acted... a bit aggressive," Toothless said, looking away while trying to gather the right words. "I should've told you from the beginning what I knew... I acted on impulse... Do you forgive me?" he asked, whining softly.
Lua took a moment, then turned with a smile.
"Of course. You're my friend—I could never stay mad at you for that long," Lua assured him.
Toothless smiled, then spat out the other half of the fish and offered it to her as a peace offering. Lua did the same. Both dragons ate happily, ignoring Hiccup's disgusted expression.
Yeah... Communication is the key. If it isn't done correctly, it can lead to disaster.
But not only between dragon and rider — also between dragons themselves, and between humans themselves.
That was a lesson I only learned now. Maybe if I had been more open about my feelings with my father when I was human... could I have avoided becoming a dragon?
Well, it doesn't matter now. What matters is what I do with that knowledge.
I know I won't escape fights in the future, but I also know my friends will help me when I need them.