How To Train Your Dragon 7
By Cressida Cowell
Prologue
Bearcub wakes from a dream that he was running through perfect fresh snow. He finds himself being held captive by Vikings with most of the rest of his clan of Wanderers while they were sleeping. His father was out hunting when they were taken and he hopes he will find and rescue them. His grandmother tells him his father cannot rescue them because he doesn’t know where they are. She curses the voyage and everyone on the ship. Bearcub points out they are on the ship, but the grandmother says they are already doomed. Bearcub keeps hoping someone will come to help him.
1. The Murderous tribe has invited the Hooligan and Bog-Burglar tribes to their island for a swimming competition. The 12 Hooligan tribe boys that are training to become Vikings have on their swimsuits and weapons. Gobber explains the idea of this race is to come in last. The person that can swim out the farthest and stay in the cold the longest and still make it back to shore will be the winner. He gives them blubberwing fat to help keep them warm. They are allowed to take their hunting dragons out with them to help them fight off predators. Hiccup’s friend Fishlegs can’t swim, so they made him a set of inflated arm bands out of pig guts to help keep him a float. Gobber gives him his cloak to cover them up so the Murderous tribe members don’t see them. Snotlout and Dogsbreath come over to make fun of Hiccup and Fishlegs for always coming I. Last place. They push Hiccup down into the sand and pour the extra blubberwing fat over Fishlegs’ head before the horn blows telling them the race is about to start. Fishlegs thinks he and Hiccup are the only two in their tribe with any sense.
2. Stoick plans on winning the race, but he tells Hiccup to try to outlast Snoutlout. Old Wrinkly is one of the judges for the race. He tells Stoick he has seen the future and his son-in-law should not participate. Stoick knows Old Wrinkly’s predictions are usually off, so he ignores the warning and wanders off down the beach. Old Wrinkly asks Hiccup if he has his ticking thing and Hiccup confirms he does by pulling it out. Old Wrinkly opens up the back and sets an alarm for three months, five days, and six hours. It will tick louder when the time draws near and he must return to the beach before the alarm goes off. Old Wrinkly leaves to join the other race judges. Someone comes along and rips the cloak off of Fishlegs and reveals his armbands. Everyone laughs at him and Hiccup tries to tell everyone they are a new weapon. The horn sounds to signal the start of the race. Fishlegs starts to run, but since his glasses are covered in blubberwing goo, he can’t see and goes in the wrong direction. Hiccup and Camicazi chase him down to get him into the water. Meanwhile, Stoick, Bertha, and Madguts take their time strolling into the water. Madgut’s assistant Gumboil tells them Madguts is wearing a new oil that will keep him warmer linger. He offers the rest of it to Stoick and Bertha so they will have a fair chance at the race. He says the race hasn’t started for them yet because they haven’t started swimming yet. They go back to shore and find the pot Gumboil pointed to is just about empty. The Chief Judge tells them they have finished the race and Old Wrinkly confirms they lost in record time. Both chiefs are furious.
3. Hiccup and Camicazi are having trouble keeping themselves afloat with all their armor and weapons. Hiccup isn’t sure how they are going to outlast Snotlout and he says as much. Snotlout has been sneaking up behind them and hears him. He and Dogsbreath swim over to Fishlegs and ruin his armbands. Hiccup had to calm him down enough to keep himself floating while Hiccup and Camicazi support him by the shoulders. Toothless shoots out of the water from hunting mackerel and tells Hiccup there is something nasty below them. Suddenly, Camicazi screams and is goes under. Hiccup tries to look for her while helping Fishlegs, but Camicazi is gone.
4. Fishlegs is dragged under the water next. Hiccup tries to escape, but is taken under the water as well. Just as he is about to run out of air, he finds himself flying into the sky being carried by a Raptortongue. The flat dragons are not sea creatures, but he can see the herd of them carrying him and his friends further out to see. He tries to ask one of them where they are going, but it threatens to rip his head off. They land on a massive boat and are immediately tied upside down to one of the masts. The flaps of a tent are pulled back to reveal Madguts the Murderous, his assistant Gumboil, and the Hysteric tribe chief Norbert the Nutjob.
5. Norbert reveals he has made a deal with Madguts. I’m exchange for Hiccup and his friends, Madguts gets to rest on the ship for a few hours while the other Vikings give up on the race and swim back to shore. The young Vikings try to point out that is cheating, but Norbert believes Hiccup’s grandfather Grimbeard the Ghastly cheated too because no one could swim for three months straight. Madguts and Gumboil jump over the side of the boat to finish the race. Norbert demands his ticking thing that Camicazi had previously stolen from him. It had fallen out of Hiccup’s pocket when they were hung upside down, and he points out Norbert is standing on it. Norbert can’t decide if he wants to kill them now or when they get to America, so he lets his axe decide. He throws his axe into the air and it lands black side down indicating he should kill them right then.
6. Hiccup thinks quickly and asks Norbert if he knows how to read the ticking thing. Norbert does not and knocks one of his men into the axe to prevent it from landing properly. Norbert has Hiccup and his friends untied and they fall to the ground. He gives Hiccup the ticking thing and Takes them to his tent. He shows them a map on the wall that his father had used to get to America. Hiccup looks at the map and at the ticking thing. He has determined two of the hands tell time, one is a compass, one is a lie detector, two more helped calculate latitude and longitude. There were two more hands (one jagged like a lightening bolt and another shaped like a question mark) that he wasn’t sure what they did. Hiccup points to the North West and tells Norbert that is the fastest way, but they may have to face a lot of nasty ice dragons. Norbert tells his men to sail in the direction Hiccup says. They turn the boat and start in their way to America where Norbert is bringing all his belongings with the plan to become an emperor.
7. The three young Vikings go near a chimney bellowing smoke to dry their clothes and get warm. They then decide to explore the ship. Norbert has a machine he is trying to get to fly and he has his men test it. All attempts so far have ended in the water. There is a wheel that must constantly be peddled. When Hiccup asks about it Viciously tells him it keeps the boat floating and the sea monsters away. That night, the Hysterics sing and Hiccup falls asleep. He is woke. Up by singing in a foreign language coming from below the deck. He realizes there are slaves below them; their song sounds like a curse on the voyage. Norbert thumps his axe on the deck and threatens to drown them if they don’t stop. The ship crosses the invisible line in the ocean that puts them in the deep waters of the open sea.
8. Every morning, Hiccup would spend time in Norbert’s tent to give directions to America. They would then have the rest of the day to explore the ship. Red Ronald confirmed there were about 119 Northern Wanderer slaves below deck. One afternoon while hunting a fly, Toothless landed in Norbert’s head, in his surprise, he knocked over another Viking who knew turn pushed Hiccup down the grate to where the Wanderer slaves were kept. He was able to hold in with one hand, but in his attempt to save the navigator, Norbert accidentally steps in Hiccup’s hand and the young hero drops amongst the slaves. They are ready to tear him apart, but luckily they also speak Dragonese. Hiccup tells them if they let him live, he will find a way to free them near their home land. Bearcub’s grandmother is still skeptical. She tells two Wanderers to hold him and she puts the Slavemark on the side of his head a few inches above his ear. She tells him to promise by that mark that he will help them. He is near tears as he promises. Norbert gets the hatch open and throws a rope down to Hiccup. Hiccup is given his helmet to cover the mark and is pulled out.
9. As the American Dream 2 sails into the icy waters of the north, everyone remains quiet. The polar serpents watch them from the ice. Norbert gets frustrated and yells at them after dumping the leftovers from lunch overboard. They go into a feeding frenzy over the meal and the water turns red with blood (sometimes they kill each other in the frenzy). Norbert goes back to being quiet. Hiccup has not told his friends about the slavemark on his head. He knows any Viking baring the mark is automatically an outcast and he could never become the Hooligan’s chief. He plans on never telling anyone. He sits in the crow’s nest trying to think how to escape with his friends and the Wanderers. Camicazi complains about having the extra people to rescue because it makes the situation seem impossible.
10. Toothless and Stormfly fly out of the cooking tent and fly in an odd pattern. Stormfly is shifting colors and Toothless is flying upside down. When they get over to Hiccup, Toothless tries to think of a good lie about where they are, but he is drunk. He falls asleep in Hiccups arms. Stormfly falls asleep on her perch and Camicazi has to catch her out of the air. When Hiccup checks around Toothless’ mouth, he can tell there is dragon nip, which comes from the glass of a loafer dragon. Hiccup realizes if they put it in the food, anyone that eats it will be asleep for at least 12 hours. He decides they will escape that night.
11. Hiccup is able to sneak into the cooking tent to spike the dinner with dragon nip. They watch as the Hysterics fall asleep while still doing whatever they were doing. Hiccup takes the ticking thing from Norbert and Camicazi takes his keys. They are able to free the Wanderers and Bearpaw’a grandmother doesn’t know if she is relieved or disappointed. Hiccup asks if she knows how to get home from there and if they can take them back to Berk. She tells them a Wanderer is never lost and she can lead themselves home (she could have lead Norbert to America if he had asked). They lower the lifeboats and start loading up. Camicazi’s steering is knocked a bit off course as Stormfly (strapped to her chest) writhes in her sleep from a dream. At the same time, Hiccup was trying to climb into a lifeboat and falls
12. He lands on top of a flat iceberg right by a bunch of polar serpents. He starts running as fast as they can and they quickly turn to follow him. Some dive in the water to follow him from below. Fishlegs tries to shoot a harpoon with a rope attached to it at Hiccup, but Hiccup realizes too late the rope was meant to get him back in the ship. Polar serpent horns burst through the ice and he has to dodge them. He runs into a cave and thinks he is coming to a wall with enough grooves for him to climb. By the time he realizes it is an enormous sea dragon, it is too late for him to stop and his ticking thing (tied to his wrist) ends up hitting the sea dragon’s eye lid. It wakes up and it’s big eyes glow bright like a spotlight. Hiccup starts running back towards the polar serpents, who also turn around to try to get away from the sea dragon. The enormous sea dragon gets up and starts after Hiccup. It launches itself onto the iceberg and smashes it to bits. Polar serpents and Hiccup go flying. Hiccup just barely misses catching into the edge of the boat and lands in the sea. The harpoon end catches him by the back of his shirt. Camicazi and Fishlegs pull him in as he climbs up the rope. Amicability goes back to steering while Hiccup has Fishlegs help him move Red Tonald from the device that keeps the boat floating and sea monsters away. Hiccup starts peddling and the white line in the water that is the sea monster stops approaching the boat. He sees the Wanderers towing away from them and tells for them to come back. They leave the three Viking heroes behind. Camicazi calls them cowards.
13. The three young heroes make sure to make themselves look innocent as the Hysterics start to wake up. Hiccup uses the steam to dry his clothes. Camicazi tells Red Ronald she won’t tell on him for stopping his peddling of the machine. They kids go up into the crows nest with their sleeping dragons to avoid Norbert’s rage when he finds the slaves are missing. He instantly blames Hiccup, who points out he would have escaped as well if it would have been him. Norbert starts to chop down the mast to f wet to him, but Hiccup convinces him he is still needed. The sea dragon is still following them. The Hysterics take turns furiously peddling the machine to keep it at bay, but the machine seems to be barely holding on. Hiccup suggests to Norbert they return home, but Norbert is still determined to get to America. Hiccup is sure the sea dragon is the one he poked in the eye and thinks it might be an ancient species from the legends. He and his friends talk about what they think is going on back home.
14. Back on the beaches where the swimming race had started, Madguts come up on the beach after 41 hours. He claimed his prize and requested Stoick and Bertha sacrifice themselves to the sky dragons. They are outraged. Madguts has Gumboil point out this is what Grimbeard the Ghastly requested of the losing chiefs in the Dark Old Days. Old Wrinkly tells the story. Murderous the Magnificent was dubbed the winner of race and made king of the Archipelago. During a different festival, Grimbeard the Ghastly arrived on the beach and became the true winner of the race having stayed out in the sea for over three months. He then had Murderous sacrificed to the sky dragons. Old Wrinkly asks they do not declare a winner until that same amount of time has passed since they still have three unaccounted for swimmers. The judges agree and decide to wait in the shire until that time. The rest of the tribes are sent back to their respective islands. Stoick and Bertha are imprisoned.
15. Everyone in the American Dream 2 has a different idea about what America will be like. Everyone pictures it as their ideal land. Hiccup pictures it being a lot like Berk. As they get closer, the Hysterics grow more excited. Hiccup and his friends spend most of their time in the riggings. Camicazi steals back their weapons at Hiccup’s request. Norbert keeps eyeing him and Hiccup remembers Norbert plans to kill them once they arrive in America and no longer need him to read the ticking thing
16. Once they could see the grey outline of the American shore, Norbert decided it was time to kill Hiccup. Hiccup yells out that Norbert only wants to kill him because he has red hair. The red haired Vikings realize Norbert had put them through a lot and pull out their swords. The blinds raid their own swords thinking it would be nice to have all blonds. Camicazi shouts insults at Norbert as Hiccup fights him with his sword. She jumps in him, tickles him, and steals his ticking thing again. Hiccup and Camicazi fight him together. Toothless takes the map of America and drops it over Norbert’s head. In his frustration, Norbert knocks the machine keeping the sea dragon away over the side of the ship. The sea dragon starts heading straight for them. Everyone unites to fight the dragon.
17. The sea dragon, a Leviathorgan, swims up next to the boat and then passes it. It dives deep under so none of the can see it. Hiccup realizes it is playing with them and yells for everyone to hold on to something. The Leviathorgan comes out of the water and tips the boat so the mast almost touches the water. It shoots a flaming stinger at the mast that Hiccup instinctively hid behind. The dragon dives back down and the ship rocks the other way. When it comes back up, it comes through the bottom of the boat and most of the Vikings are thrown off, including Camicazi and Fishlegs. Hiccup’s tie to the ticking thing get wrapped around the mast. He asks Toothless to bite through it but Toothless gets huffy when Hiccup gets scared and tells him to hurry. Norbert starts to come after Hiccup blaming him for all his failures. Toothless finally agrees to free him. Hiccup comes up with a suicidal plan and starts climbing up the mast.
18. Hiccup climbs up the mast and Norbert follows in his fury of having another boat destroyed by the young Viking. I hen they get to the horizontal piece, they have a sword fight that becomes Viking legend. When the Leviathorgan bursts through the bottom of the ship’s hull, Norbert is shocked out of battle at how close he is to death. Hiccup (instead of taking the opportunity to kill Norbert) continues climbing up the mast. He says a quick prayer to Thor and then tells Norbert to come and kill him. Norbert gets to the top of the mast and raises his axe ti swing. Hiccup jumps off the mast just before lightning strikes it. The electricity goes through Norbert, the mast, and the Leviathorgan. The ship goes down taking what is left of the sea dragon with it.
19. Fishlegs sees Hiccup after he lands in the water. He gets off the table to the unconscious Hiccup into the table. Camicazi is surprised he had learned how to swim. They start kicking out to sea knowing they can’t go to America with no offerings or defenses. When they are too tired to keep kicking, the Wanderer’s ships find them and bring them aboard. Hiccup is given medicine and he wakes up They explained they could not follow them in the lifeboats and had to go back for their own ships.
20. They cross the ocean and are getting closer to the Archipelegi, but Hiccup is worried they aren’t going to make it back before Old Wrinkly told him to with the emphasis that he could not be late. The ticking thing gets louder as his grandfather said it would. Hiccup worries and ends up taking the back off to find the initials G.G. Engraved into it. He suspects it actually belonged to Grimbeard the Ghastly and he felt less bad about taking it from Norbert. He realizes they are still more than a day away when they only have six hours left in the deadline. Hiccup spots the flying machine. Fishlegs tries to talk him out of it, but the ticking is getting louder.
21. The three young heroes take off in the flying device and start heading towards the Murderous Mountains. They are strapped in and great til for it as their hands grow cold from the wind. It isn’t long before the Wanderer’s ships are out of sight. As the beach comes into sight, the flying marching breaks and they start going down towards the water. The ticking thing continues to get louder. They reach the beach where all the Hooligans, Bog-Burglars, and Murderous tribes are waiting for the end of the race. Most are impressed and relieved to see them return. As they get out of the water and walk up into the beach, Hiccup puts the ticking thing in front of Old Wrinkly. The alarm goes off playing the Hooligan anthem. Snotlout points out they need to take the oath they they did not seek side by float or boat. Hiccup makes the path because he never asked to go on Norbert’s boat and was unconscious when pulled into the Wanderer’s boat. Stoick and Bertha are relieved. Hiccup demands Madguts sing at the next Thing dressed as a pretty shepherdess. His intent was to break the cycle of revenge. While Madguts isn’t happy about it, he realizes it is better than being picked apart by sky dragons.
Epilogue
Hiccup the old man, the Last Great Viking Hero, reminisces how he was so close to setting foot into America, but didn’t make it. He knows he and the other Vikings were not ready. Starting a new empire in America the. Would have only brought their old problems right along with them. That trip changed Hiccup. He wanted to make changes and not only become the Chief, but a king. He wanted to civilize the Vikings. While he wanted to end slavery completely, he would become a slave to his people to keep them safe and happy. He thought it was only eight he bare the slavemark even though it would make his task much harder if anyone found out.