Hiccup managed to calm himself down a little before he made his way to the docks and watched on from the spot he was on as everyone in the village was loading up on weapons and catapults. His heart made a painful grip when he saw Toothless being restrained and Emily gagged and tied up by her arms as they were practically struggling while the two were put on the ship.
Stoick looked at the armada and nodded as they were ready to leave for the nest.
"Set sail! We head for Helheim's Gate." Stoick ordered.
When he looked up, he paused when saw Hiccup standing and watching them leave. He just turned his head away and walked to the front of the ship but he still felt guilty for what he did but he masked it up with a glare at Toothless and Emily who both glared back at him.
"Lead us home, Devil." Stoick sneered as all of the ship soon set sail while Toothless lowered his head in defeat.
Emily glanced at where Hiccup is with saddened eyes, sensing that he and his father got into an argument but she can't do anything now except wait for the end.
Hiccup watched helplessly as the fleet soon disappeared from his sights to the direction of the nest and were now in death's walk. He didn't need to turn around when he heard light footsteps but he knew that it was just Astrid as she stood beside him.
What Emily said made her think and maybe she could try and get Hiccup back to his senses to try and save the whole boat fleet from their deaths. But she needs to convince him first which will be hard.
"It's a mess. You must feel horrible. You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friends." Astrid started softly but he just rolled his eyes. What does she want now?
"Thank you for summing that up." Hiccup said sarcastically before he frowned as a thought went through his mind.
"Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? It would have been better for everyone." Hiccup said as he was still conflicted why he befriended the dragon instead of killing it.
"Yep. The rest of us would have done it." Astrid agreed with him but she knew that there must be a reason why Hiccup didn't kill it. That there was something that only Emily can see in him.
"So why didn't you...? Why didn't you?" She asked as he didn't know the answers.
He tried to think of an idea why but nothing was coming up.
"I don't know. I couldn't." Hiccup said solemnly.
"That's not an answer." Astrid continues to press.
"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?" Hiccup glanced at her in annoyance. Why does she care about it all of a sudden?
"Because I want to remember what you say, right now." Astrid said and that did it.
Hiccup turned to Astrid with frustration clear in his eyes as he couldn't take it anymore. What does she want and why is she saying these things right now when he just got disowned by his, no, the chief!
"Oh, for the love of- I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!" Hiccup vented out in frustration.
"You said 'wouldn't' that time." Astrid said as she saw that she was getting through to him.
"Whatever! I wouldn't! Three hundred years, and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!" Hiccup finished as he huffed angrily and turned away.
Astrid's gaze softens at this as silence stays for a few minutes before she speaks up.
"First to ride one, though. So...?" Astrid said and what she said made Hiccup's thoughts run through his memories to his first encounter with Toothless.
"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself." Hiccup said as he finally realized why he can't kill Toothless.
He remembered how scared Toothless looked on that day at the forest. He looked up to Astrid with a new sense of understanding as she just smiled sadly at him.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"It's just, what Emily told me and the others made sense. She sees something in you that we didn't. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what you've been through." Astrid apologized as Hiccup's eyes widened at this but he just smiled.
"Yeah, well, I was just scared back then and didn't want to get in trouble. But Emily has been by my side since day one when she came here. I just... hope she's okay." Hiccup said worriedly.
"I bet Toothless is really frightened now with Emily worrying about you. What are you going to do about it?" Astrid questioned but he just shrugged with a deflated look.
"Eh, probably something stupid." He said in a deadpan voice.
"Good. But you've already done that." Astrid said with a smile.
A light bulb lit up in Hiccup's mind as he suddenly had an idea.
"Then something crazy!" Hiccup said and started to run towards the arena while Astrid watched him go with a smile.
"That's more like it!" Astrid said before she ran to the village to gather the rest of the teens.
Hiccup's plan better work since the fate of the village is on his shoulders now.
The whole fleet had reached the fog that leads through the maze of rocks and towards the nest. Everyone was all tense and speaking in hushed voices while looking around while fidgeting.
"Sound your positions. Stay within earshot." Stoick ordered as the voices of the Vikings can be heard
"Here."
"One length to your stern."
"On your starboard flank."
"Three widths to port."
"Ahead, at your bow."
"Haven't a clue."
Gobber went to his friend's side but not after giving Emily a glance who was just staring ahead with a narrowed gaze as if sensing something and the way her eyes glowed in a rather inhumane way is just plain creepy before turning to Stoick.
"Listen..., Stoick, I was overhearing some of the men just now and, well, some of them are wondering what it is we're up to here- not me of course, I know you're always the man with the plan- but some, not me, are wondering if there is in fact a plan at all, what it might be?" Gobber said as he was just nervous about this. This was the day they destroy the nest but something about this day is just giving him the chills down to his skivvies.
"Find the nest and take it." Stoick said. It was plain and simple. They find the nest and destroy it and the dragons will leave and the raids will stop when they do so.
"Ah. Of course. Send them running. The old Viking fallback. Nice and simple." Gobber said as he tried to keep himself positive but something caught Stoick's eye.
He turned to see that the Night Fury was starting to act strange while making a strange noise while moving its head in a certain direction as if hearing something that he and the others couldn't hear.
"Shh." He shushed him as he watched the Night Fury.
He quickly went to the back of the boat to guide everyone through the fog.
"Step aside." He said while the Viking at the back stepped away and let the chief steer the boat while Emily clenched and unclench her hands that were tied.
They won't win this. They will never stop the raid. They haven't seen it like she and Hiccup did.
"Bear to port." The voices of the Vikings were heard as she just lowered her head and hoped that Hiccup would hurry so they could save the village.
'Primus, let Hiccup succeed in what he's planning and doing right now...'
Back at Berk, Hiccup picked up the staff that Emily had left behind and strapped it on the holder on his harness at the back while looking up at the gate of the Monstrous Nightmare before perking up when he heard footsteps approaching.
"If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." Fishlegs said and made Hiccup turn around and saw that Astrid had gathered the teens.
Tuffnut then walked up to Hiccup with a rather fake looking menacing look but it still caused him to back up.
"You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon." Tuffnut said but Hiccup just blinked.
"Uh..." Hiccup just blinked in confusion.
"That's me." Tuffnut said before being pushed by Snotlout who had an eager grin.
After seeing what happened at the arena, something tells him that Hiccup is about to do something with the dragons and he is in.
"I love this plan!" Snotlout exclaimed eagerly but Hiccup was confused. He doesn't actually have a plan.
"I didn't-" Hiccup said but was cut off by Ruffnut who pushed his cousin away by the arm and caused him to punch himself in the process.
"You're crazy! I like that." Ruffnut said and whispered the last part rather flirtatiously and much to Hiccup's discomfort.
Astrid pulled Ruffnut away much to Hiccup's relief as she stood in front of him.
"So? What is the plan?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup looked at the teens and back to Astrid and he couldn't help but smile gratefully. He then went to the gate of the Gronckle cage and went to the lever before pulling it down before going to the other ones. It was time to act now.
Back at the nest, Toothless was still guiding the fleet when they passed by a broken ship and making everyone rather tense and nervous. Gobber just looked at it with a rather fond smile.
"Ah. I was wondering where that went." He said as he tried to make the atmosphere less tense but it didn't.
They bumped into another rock but Stoick steered the ship whilst following the movements of Toothless' head. But when they started to approach what looked like the island, Toothless started to act wildly as if he wanted to break free.
"Stay low and ready your weapons." Stoick orders before the ship hit something and from the sound of it, it was gravel.
Toothless started to thrash against his restraints as Emily looked at the island with a fierce look and sensing something sinister waiting to be unleashed as the noise of the dragons can be heard like a bunch of bees. Stoick moved to the front of the ship and looked at the vast mountain and he couldn't help but smile in awe at this. After years of searching, they finally found it.
"We're here." Stoick whispered before jumping and landing on the ground but the noise suddenly stopped.
Stoick stood back up and looked at the mountain. It was time to do what they came here for.
At the arena, Hiccup was walking backwards slowly with his hand outstretched towards the nose of the Monstrous Nightmare while walking back slowly to the teens. The teens all watched in giddy excitement and amazement since they have never seen something so amazing before.
Snotlout was a bit scared and he slowly picked up the broken spear from the ground but Astrid stopped him while shaking her head.
"Uh-uh." Astrid said and he dropped it back down.
Hiccup came towards him and took hold of his hand and tried to guide his hand to the dragon's nose but Snotlout was a bit alarmed and scared by this.
"Wait! What are you-?!" Snotlout panicked when the dragon snorted at him as Hiccup rested his hand on the dragon's nose.
"Relax. It's okay, it's okay." Hiccup told him calmly before he slowly swapped their hands as Hiccup rested his cousin's hand on the dragon's nose.
Much to Snotlout's amazement and relief, the dragon started to purr deeply in a soothing way while he moved his gaze towards the teen as Snotlout couldn't help but laugh in amazement.
Hiccup saw a box of tools and went towards it, much to Snotlout's nervousness.
"Where are you going?!" He asked.
Hiccup went to the tools before pulling out a coil of ropes and showing it to the teens and showing it to them.
"You're going to need something to help you hold on." Hiccup told them and the teens looked behind them and saw that the other dragons were out while looking at their future riders expectantly.
A roar was soon heard from above them and they all looked up to see the Stormcutter returning with something in his claws and Hiccup ran towards him outside of the arena and looked at him.
"Optimus." Hiccup said as he reached his hand out to him.
Optimus leaned his head towards his hand and warbled softly before showing Hiccup what he has and his eyes widened at this before picking it up.
"Let's try it on." Hiccup said and removed the flying harness and put the new set of gear on him.
It was made out of dragon scales and Hiccup's size. It looked just like his harness but it was a mix of leather and dragon scales. He fixed the arm guards and marveled at the design and the shoulder guards had the same symbol like the one on the back of his hand.
He turned around to see the others had chosen their respective dragons as they were looking at Optimus in awe. He cleared his throat to speak.
"I may not have a plan but the only thing we can do is try and get to the island before everyone is killed in battle." Hiccup said as he got on Optimus when he lowered himself and made sure to steady himself.
Everyone got on their respective dragons and they all took off in the direction of the nest to rescue everyone before it's too late. Hiccup was worried for Emily, Toothless and the village and hoped that they would make it on time.