How to Train Your Dragon 8
Cressida Cowell
Prologue
This is the story where Hiccup learns that the names of places in the Archipelago were named after actual people and events. Grimbeard the Ghastly was the last king to rule over the united Vikings from a land he called Tomorrow (“for it shall last forevermore). His reign didn’t last long before he was attacked by his own son, whose blood he ended up spilling. He ended up limping away in a small boat and sailing west never to be seen again. His throne was lost, abandoned, and overrun by nature. Camicazi was on her little boat when a large storm came in and the rest of the Bog-Burglars go out before the storm has ended to find her searching the entire Archipelago while yelling her name.
1. Two Hooligan ships are out looking for Camicazi and end up in the Easter Archipelago, which is dangerous because it is Uglithug territory. Snotlout blames Hiccup for turning Stoick soft enough to go out looking for a Bog-Burglar. He points out how they are in danger and the Beachnif the Broken a Heart is just a short distance away. He tells Dogsbreath and Fishlegs that it is haunted and the ghost there rips out hearts to take with her because she lost her child. Hiccup says people only say it is haunted because a bird lives in the brush behind the beach and makes haunting sounding cries. Toothless gets back to the boat from searching for Camicazi and is flustered. He jumps up and down on Hiccup’s head and points at the beach.
2. Stoick spots something large on the beach and demands they sail closer. Hiccup hopes it is Camicazi’s ship. They end up hitting a rock and getting a hole in the bottom of the boat. Stoick side idea they will make camp in the Beach if the Broken Heart. They find the large object Stoick had spotted was an ancient throne with the Hooligan crest on it that had been washed up in the big storm. Stoick decides they will take it with them after they fix the boat in the morning. They can hear the Berserks on the next island over, but Stoick convinces them they are too far away. Fishlegs is still worried about being in the territory of UG the Uglithug, the meanest chief in the Archipelago. In the middle of the night, they all wake up to a loud scream. Stoick tells them it was the far-off Berserks and to go back to sleep. As Hiccup is about to, he sees someone sitting in the throne.
3. Before Hiccup can scream, a hand covers his mouth. The Uglithug get into place making sure each Hooligan has a knife to their throat as they wake up. UG then kicks Stoick awake. He tells Stoick it looks bad that the Hooligans are sleeping on a beach in Uglithug territory with a Hooligan throne next to them. Stoick tries to explain they don’t have any intention of invading them. Hiccup bites the hand that is silencing him and explains Bertha knows they are there looking for Camicazi who was lost in the recent storm. The same storm washed up the throne that had clearly been under water for a long time. UG is impressed with Hiccup’s politics and says it was all just a joke. After they stop laughing, he tells Stoick they have another important matter to discuss. Someone from the Hooligan tribe has been sending his daughter love letters (a serious offense for Vikings).
4. UG invites Stoick for some Tea. Stoick thinks it is too late for tea. UG is surprised Stoick picked that spot for camp. He estimates it is about 10 minutes until 3 judging by the sounds the Berserks are making. Toothless wakes up when he smells the food and eats so quickly he accidentally eats the spoon in addition ti his soup. UG’s daughter, Tantrum O’UGerly, smiles and waves at Fishlegs. Fishlegs faints and Tantrum laughs at him. Hiccup whispers something to Fishlegs. UG points out if the letter was written by royal blood, they would have the opportunity to ask UG for an impossible quest to attempt winning his daughter’s hand. If not someone of royal blood, all unmarried Hooligan men would be slain. UG reads the unauthorized love letter and shows them it came with a rare Berk Bog Rose (which only grows on Berk).
5. Fishlegs is quite proud of his poetry, but Hiccup explains UG is serious about killing him for sending it to Tantrum. Hiccup says that he wrote the love letter. UG welcomes him as his daughter’s twelfth fiancé. Tantrum says she will wait for one of her previous fiancés that she is in love with. She wants to sail away and live a life of freedom with him. UG tells her to keep waiting as he doesn’t expect any of her suitors to return from the impossible quest he has set. He explains to Hiccup he wants a barrel of mead made from the best honey. They all know the best honey comes from the bees on Berserk. That is why the other eleven fiancés have not returned.
6. Camicazi ihas been stuck in a tiny prison made inside a tree for a week. It is pitch black inside and the lock cannot be picked. From the outside, there is nothing to distinguish this tree from any of the other tens of thousands around it. She is worried what her captors had done with her dragon, Stormfly. She sings out the Bog-Burglar anthem, but it cannot be heard outside of the tree.
7. The Hooligan’s go back to Berk. Stoick has decided UG did not say that Hiccup had to complete the impossible task on his own, so the twelve Viking youths started training for honey retrieval. They mounted their riding dragons and tried to make it through Gobber’s course without him shooting them with arrows. Fishlegs doesn’t do so well and ends up steering his dragon right into a tree. He goes over the top of his chickenpoxer’s head and hits his head too. Hiccup is able to catch him before he falls, but Fishlegs has been roused into his Berserk state. Hiccup tries to calm him down while Fishlegs tells about not being good enough because he doesn’t have parents or know where he comes from. Suddenly, he realizes he is a Berserk.
8. Fishlegs explains he was found in a lobster pot he has since made into a rucksack. He believes he must have been born a Berserk and sailed to Berk in the lobster pot. Hiccup agrees it is possible, but not probable. Fishlegs wants to go to Berserk alone and collect the five pots of honey by himself. Hiccup reminds him it would be crazy to go to Berserk the night of the full moon. He takes Fishlegs home so he can rest after the blow to his head. When Hiccup goes to check in him later, he finds a note from Fishlegs saying he has gone to Berserk to complete the mission. Hiccup immediately takes off on the Windwalker to go after him. It is late when he gets to Berserk and he tries not to think of all the things in the forest below him. He sees a figure completely covered in creatures and can hear the creatures discussing smelling fear in Dragonese. Hiccup can see if it Fishlegs and his chickenpoxer. Soon, the creatures are coming after him as well
9. Fishlegs did very well on his own. He made it to the island and collected the five pots of honey. But once his task was completed, he is spooked by something and his Berserk tendencies turned off and he was his regular self. The Scarers could smell his fear and start crawling all over him. That is how Hiccup finds him and is glad to see he isn’t moving. Hiccup and his dragon do the same and the Scarers also start to crawl all over him. They stay still for a few minutes hoping they will move on soon, but Fishlegs loses his determination and starts screaming. The Scarers bite his chickenpoxer and they take off. Hiccup also screams and follows on his Windwalker. They awaken a giant dragon and it comes out of the trees to follow them. Something sings through the air and hits Fishlegs. He slumps down on his dragon and they are both carried away by the giant dragon. There is a second zing and Hiccup passes out.
10. Hiccup wakes up to someone knocking on his helmet. He opens his eyes to see a tattooed Berserk standing over him. Fishlegs wakes up next to him. The chief is carried over to theM on a shield and unchained. He grabs some electricsquirms and let’s their electricity flow through him. He looks them over and sunny impressed. Toothless (having eaten Stoicks magnetic stone earlier) sticks to the flat end of his sword. Hiccup apologizes for his dragon and pulls him off. Toothless continues to stick to other pieces of the Chief’s armor and chains before Hiccup is able to tuck his little dragon back into his waistcoat. The Chief asks if they are fiancés of Tantrum. Hiccup asks what happens if they are not. After hearing they would be thrown off the bridge right then, Hiccup says they are. The Chief says they will be fed to the beast at the next full moon ritual. Their cloaked, French chef, Alphonse, comes out. He says the beast likes the little ones because they are sweeter. Hiccup noticed the French accent is horrible and speaks to him in French. Alphonse is able to respond, but not well. Hiccup tries to get a look at him. But can’t see his face under the cloak. The Chief orders they be put in their cages until the next full moon. Fishlegs asks that they be spared because he believes they are family. He tells them about his Berserk tendencies starting about a year ago and being found in a lobster pot on the shores of Berk. The Chief explains they send any weak babies off to the sea or leave them on the side of a mountain for Thor to decide what to do with them. Since Fishlegs gave him such a great laugh at the suggestion of them being family, he decides to treat him as a fiancé. Hiccup asks if they have seen Camicazi. The chief describes her, but says he has never heard of her. Hiccup and Fishlegs are taken to their cages by the shore to await the ceremony where they and the other fiancés will be fed to the beast later that day.
11. Fishlegs thanks Hiccup for coming after him. A few cages down, Humongously Hotshot calls out to Hiccup. They are surprised to see him there, but he wanted a second chance at love. Hiccup counts the cages and notices Humongous is in the cage position of the fiancé Tantrum is actually in love with. The other fiancés are disappointed they are going to die for a princess that had no feelings for them. They decide if they get out, they will Perdue other loves. Humongous tells all the fiancés to quiet down so Hiccup can come up with a plan to get them all free. Eventually, they all fall asleep. Hiccup hears the tapping of someone approaching and the figure that comes up to his cage and grabs his shirt with a hook looks a lot like Alvin the Treacherous.
12. Hiccup immediate recognizes Alvin as soon as he comes up to his cage. Alvin uses his hook to grab him by the shirt and strangle him against the bars. He explains that when the large dragon from the volcano ate him, his nose was burned off (he wears a false wooden one). He killed his exterminator dragon causing releasing laughing gas. He was able to float out of the large dragon’s stomach in a large gas bubble and out of the volcano. He floated until a Berserk shot him down. He landed on the Berserk Chief’s chef. To escape death, he said he too was a chef and has been cooking for the Chief ever since. Hiccup points out that Alvin is still a prisoner, but they could escape together and then Alvin could kill him. Alvin let’s him out of his cage and Hiccup tells him to take him to where Camicazi is being held. Alvin puts the Stormblade to Hiccups back and they walk deep into the forest. Alvin shows him one of the prisons made from a tree. He tells Hiccup to get in. Not seeing any other choice, Hiccup does. Alvin locks him in and says this slow death is much better revenge on the young Viking hero.
13. Something comes towards Hiccup in the complete darkness. He says he is not afraid, but she knows he is lying. When she asks Hiccup for his name, she tells him it is Fishlegs. She says her name is Hogtrude, but he thinks she is lying. When she tells him she is a witch, he says he was sent by UG to have her heal one of his favorite dragons. She can tell Toothless is near death and asks what is wrong with him. When Hiccup tells her he ate a magic magnetic rock and a spoon, she agrees to cut him open to retrieve the items. Hiccup doesn’t have much choice. She hands him the rock with several metal items Toothless had eaten still attached. He wipes it off in her cloak while the witch sees Toothkess up. She sews Toothless back up, gives him to Hiccup, and then takes the spoon from the rock. When Hiccup starts talking to Toothless in Dragonese, the witch realizes he isn’t who he said he was. He correctly guesses she also gave him a false name. She challenges him to a game of wits where she will tell a story, they will try ti guess each other’s names, and the winner will kill the loser. Hiccup has no choice by to accept.
14. The witch tells the story of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second. Grimbeard was the last great king of the Archipelago. He had two sons and then his third was a runt. When the baby was taken to the naming dame, she named him Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second. Grimbeard knew the First had caused a curse of bad luck and stole the baby from his sleeping mother and left him on a mountainside. When the mother, Chinhilda, awoke, she fought and then begged for a Grimbeard to tell her where he left the baby. She left to search for him and never returned. The baby cried for a long time and eventually, a male Grimler dragon found him and took him to his mate, who was dying from mourning the loss of her own baby. She was upset at first, but decided to raise the boy. Eventually the Grimler couple also adopted a giant sea dragon as well. While hunting one day, Hiccup and the giant sea dragon were caught by Hooligans and taken to Grimbeard who instantly recognized his son. He decided he had to keep him now since he survived being exposed on the mountainside. Hiccup is raised alongside his brothers for a while. He decides ti show his father a peaceful sign of power using a petition of dragons. Thugheart tells Grimbeard how t is Hiccup attacking. Grimbeard kills Hiccup, who tells his dragon brother, Furious, not to kill his father. Grimbeard realizes he is wrong. Thugheart Allie’s with the Uglithug to try to overthrow his father. Grimbeard curses the throne of the king of the Wilderwest and throws it into the ocean. He buries his treasure in a deep cavern. He takes his Hooligans back ti Berk ti let his middle son, Chucklehead, carry on the Hooligan tribe. Grimbeard sales off to the East and is never seen again. The witch says she thinks Grimbeard’s heir, from the prophecy only she knows, is Alvin the Treacherous. She guesses Hiccups name from his reactions. He guesses she is Alvin’s mother. They have both earned the right to kill the other. Hiccup tried to fight her off, but he cannot see. At the last second before she is about to stab him? Toothless opens his eyes. The light is blinding and painful to the old witch that hasn’t seen light in 20 years. Hiccup is able to use the light to see Stoick’s magic rock has a key attached to it.
15. Hiccup grabs the key and rushes up to the trap door telling Toothless to keep his eyes open. He remembers Toothless eating that key when they were with the Hysterics and hopes they also built these clever prisons. The key works. Hiccup gets out of the tree, slams the gate shut, and takes a minute to gather himself. He starts following the rope bridges and yelling for Camicazi. When he stops to rest, he notices Toothkess is eating a winkle (filled with worms and from the sea). Toothless points out there are a lot of them in the trees, which is not where they would naturally be found. He follows them hoping Camicazi left them to lead a rescuer to her. He finds another tree prison, opens the door, and calls down into it. Camicazi is very grateful for the rescue. Hiccup tells her they need to rescue Fishlegs and the others. Camicazi wants to take her revenge on the entire Berserk tribe, but Hiccup is able to convince her they will be better off trying to steal away the prisoners. She begrudgingly agrees to his plan as they run towards the Berserk village. The witch is still alive and starts to crawl out of the cell that Hiccup forgot to lock back up.
16. Hiccup and Camicazi rush back along the bridges to the Berserk village. Just as they get there, Scarers start screaming it is time for the Dead of Night ceremony. As the Berserkers start ti wake up, Hiccp tells Camicazi to go home. She refuses that command, but agrees to hide herself in a tree. Hiccup gets back in his cage and chains himself up again. When UG tells Alvin to get the first sacrifice, he is surprised to see Hiccup in his cage. The crowd is yelling to feed the beast. While most of the fiancés are volunteering to be the first sacrifice, Alvin demands Hiccup go first to make sure he dies. The cage is hooked up to a winch system and swung out over the jungle. Hiccup is slowly lowered as he hangs upside down and tries to undo all of his chains. He isn’t as fast as he expected to be. Camicazi yells advice down to him while Fishlegs is unable to see anything because his cage is covered in Scarers. The beast hits Hiccup’s cage before he is able to get them all undone. When he gets the final one undone, the beast ends up eating the entire cage. When the winch is raised up, only the handle the winch was attached to remains.
17. The beast is about to eat Hiccup when he tells it to “Halt” in Dragonese. The giant sea dragon stops only for a moment before putting Hiccup in his mouth and shutting his jaws. Hiccuo tells “Halt” again and the dragon pulls him back out. The young Viking hero notices the sea dragon has the same scar as Toothkess and recognizes from Alvin’s witch mother that the scar is from where Grimbeard’s Stormblade went into him as he grieved the loss of his human brother and was captured. Hiccup calls him by his name, Furious, and explains his relation to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second. The dragon has lost all his life for his human brother after a century of captivity. Hiccup offers to free him if he helps free the others on the island and promises to leave to the wilderness without hurting humans ever again. Furious says he will only be free when all humans are dead and he had lead a dragon rebellion to kill them all. Toothless warns Hiccup that Furious is dangerous. The sea dragon agrees to Hiccup’s terms and swears across his heart. Hiccup uses his key to unlock all the paddocks on the giant chains that keep Furious on the ground. He is able to free his wings from the thorns and trees that have grown around him.
18. Alvin insists Fishlegs be the next fiancé to be fed to the beast. He hears a voice that sounds like Camicazi yell at him to sing. At first, he isn’t sure what he should sing. He decides on the Hooligan anthem and is surprised at how well it fits his life, the Scarers leave him alone as he becomes less scared from his singing. The Berserks cheer for him. But before he can be lowered down to the Beast, the great sea dragon comes out of the green pit of trees and uses it’s beaten up wings to get into the air with Hiccup on his back.
19. Hiccup demands the Berserks let set everyone free and threatens to have Furious set their village on fire if they do not. The Chief is not impressed and shuts off the threats. Camicazi jumps on him from her tree limb and holds a knife to his throat. She threatens to kill him if he doesn’t obey Hiccups orders. He had no doubt she will follow through on her threats and demands his people to set everyone free. A few of the prisoners don’t want to leave because they have been there too long and have forgotten what life outside their prisons is like. Furious starts to set fire to the largest trees. Hiccup is upset that the dragon has broke. His promise. Furious says he only has half a heart since his broke and so he will keep half of his promise. He will come back in a year with his dragon rebellion to kill the humans. He does not believe they can live together in the world anymore. He thinks if Hiccup makes it to adulthood, it will be the end of dragons. He dumps Hiccup off his back and takes off. Hiccup is left saddened, confused, and falling.
20. As everyone evacuated the flaming forest, Hiccup continues to fall through the air. The Windwalker flies up to meet him, but is knock off balance by Hiccup and they fall in a spiral into a rope bridge. Toothless has to wake Hiccup up from fainting to help free the Windwalker’s tangled wing. Alvin the Trecherous comes out onto the bridge to attack Hiccup and they start to sword fight with Grimbeard’s two best swords. Hiccup calls out to the Windwalker to try to make sure he is okay while he is winning the fight. One of the ropes snaps and Hiccup is thrown over the side of the bridge just able to hold onto it with one hand. Alvin approaches him, but stops and goes pale when he hears his name called.
21. Alvin was surprised to hear his mother calling him as she arrives riding a Fishlegs’ chickenpoxer. He hadn’t seen her in 20 years and is not happy to break this streak. He tells Hiccup this is the worst thing he has ever done to him. The witch scolds Alvin for not following her instructions to become the king of the wilderwest. She is disappointed that he hasn’t even been able to keep hold of his limbs. She tells him Hiccup has the correct sword he needs. Meanwhile, Hiccup was able to pull himself back onto the bridge and the Windwalker was able to free his wing. They take off together. When the bridge snaps, the witch dives after her son and grabs him by the hook. The hook has been heated by the flames so she screams in agony and let’s go. Alvin falls into the inferno and his mother jumps off the chickenpoxer to follow him. Hiccup sunny sure how they could survive, but he knows better than to make the assumption that they are dead
22. Stoick woke to find Hiccup had not come home at all that night. They found the note Fishlegs left and started heading towards Berserk. By the time they arrive, the island is already a blazing inferno. They find Hiccup and his friends on the beach amongst the fiancés. Fishlegs gives his lobster pot containing five full honey pots to Humongous. The other fiancés are supportive, but also ready to pick a fight with UG. Camicazi also wants to fight UG, but Stoick insists on getting her back to her mother. Humongous promises to return Stormfly to her. Hiccup gives him the key to help in the task
23. Humongously Hotshot is able to sail to UGs castle and make it through all the locked doors quietly using Hiccup’s key. He leaves four pots of honey for UG and the last one poured in his slippers. The takes off with Tantrum and Stormfly. The other fiancés help him carry the Hooligan throne onto his ship and they deliver it to Berk with a note for Hiccup and his friends thanking them for their help and returning the key. Hiccup hears Humongous singing about a second chance of love and wonders if Furious can maybe heal with his new found freedom instead of attacking them in a year. He decides that is an issue for later. Toothless asks to keep the key and Hiccup ties it around his neck.