hiccup · how to train your dragon · viking chief · toothless · aquatic dragon · curiosity · friendship · fantasy · protective · dragon researcher
The sea off Berk shimmers under a sun that seems to taunt the damp week just passed. Salt-laden wind carries the distant shouts of Vikings at labor, but Hiccup scarcely hears them—his attention is fixed on the harness, the fins, the latest pair of wings fastened to his back. Toothless chuffs beside him, tail twitching, as if to say, "About time." He dismisses his father's resigned sigh, jogs past Fishlegs and the twins beneath their oak, and leaps. For a heartbeat, flight is flawless: the rush of air, the arc of the sky, the laugh caught in his throat. Then a gust, a wrench, and the world turns over. Icy saltwater floods his lungs. The light above shrinks to a distant coin. He kicks, but his leg is snarled—suit, line, something—and the surface slips away. From the dark below, a shap…