Here! Take this incredibly raw chapter! I'm (sorta) on a roll! The chapters are getting shorter, I'll admit.

I need to find the rest of the movie. Would you hate me if I told you I don't remember how the following scene goes? That's half the reason I decided to cut of the chapter there.

[A dragon screech catches their attention. Astrid and Stormfly land on the island and enter the scene]

"Ooh, the lovely couple has been left alone," Gobber hooted, making said couple's shoulder's rise to their ears. This was a private moment! What were they going to see?

They made themselves redder at the thought. They wouldn't do anything too…intimate…with their dragons around, right?

[Toothless runs over excitedly to greet Stormfly]

"Ah, dragon interaction," Fishlegs cooed.

Hiccup: Afternoon, m'lady. Where have you been?

"M'lady, huh?" Gobber said.

"I call her m'lady all the time!" Hiccup's ears were red.

"Oh," Gobber sang. Hiccup sank into his seat.

Clara giggled.

Astrid: Winning races. What else? The real question is... where have YOU been?

Hiccup had almost forgotten the witch was there.

He turned to shoot her a glare. She was at the very back. Beside her was another dragon. A Stormcutter. Was it hers? Movement behind the dragon made him think twice.

He squinted at a shadow behind the Stormcutter. There was someone else here besides them.

"Who-" he wanted to ask, but his own words cut him off.

Hiccup: Avoiding my dad.

"Oh no," Gobber said in exasperation. Usually he'd be Hiccup's go-to guy in this situation, but that was all someone else's problem now. The boy could pick an choose between facing his dad, Astrid, and even his dragon now. He didn't need Gobber. Good riddance.

"What?" Stoick asked.

Astrid: Oh, no. What happened now?

Hiccup: Oh, you're gonna love this.

"You seemed well versed in complaining about me, Hiccup," Stoick asked without much amusement.

"He is," Gobber provided.

I wake up. The sun's shining. Terrible Terrors are singing on the rooftop. I saunter down to breakfast, thinking all is right with the world and I get: [Imitating Stoick] "Son, we need to talk."

"Are you imitating me?" Stoick asked with a glare.

"He does it a lot," Gobber responded with a knowing nod.

Hiccup sunk into his seat, avoiding his father's eyes. This was why privacy was important. He would never dare imitate Stoick the Vast in front of the man himself!

Astrid: [Imitates Hiccup] "Not now, Dad. I've got a whole day of goofing off to get started."

Already having lost enough dignity, Hiccup shot up and stared at the present Astrid in bewilderment. "Not you too!"

"She does it even better than me!" Ruffnut shouted.

Hiccup: Okay, first of all, I don't sound like that. What is this character?

"Yeah you do. She even did the shoulder thing," Snotlout said.

"What shoulder thing?"

And second... what is that thing you're going with my shoulders?

"I don't have a shoulder thing," Hiccup continued. The room burst out laughing.

Astrid does the shoulder thing again.

Hiccup: A truly flattering impersonation. Anyway he goes: [Imitating Stoick] "You're the pride of Berk, son, and I couldn't be prouder..."

Astrid: [Imitates Hiccup talking to his dad] "Aw, thanks, Dad. I'm pretty impressed with myself, too."

"And now the hands," Hiccup might have sounded exasperated, but looking at his face, you could tell there was a wide smile on his lips.

Hiccup: [Laughing] WHEN have I ever done that with my hands?

"You totally have a hand thing," Snotlout said.

"You do," Astrid finally admitted. She had been too busy controlling her laughter to talk before, but even now she was having trouble keeping the giggling to a minimum.

Astrid: You just did.

Hiccup chuckled at himself. Maybe I do move a lot when I talk, he thought, glancing at his hands with a smile.

Hiccup: Okay... just... hold still. It's very serious.

"Aww," Fishlegs cooed, hands under his chin.

Snotlout scoffed at the girly stuff going on in his manly presence.

Hiccup: "You're all grown up, and since no chief could ask for a better successor, I've decided-"

Oh. Hiccup's smile froze on his face.

Astrid: TO MAKE YOU CHIEF! Oh, my gods! Hiccup, that's amazing! [Punches him hard in the chest]

Oh.

Though the teens were congratulating him, Hiccup couldn't hear anything but swallowing. Loud gulp.

[Hiccup grunts, Astrid laughs. Hiccup's fin pops out.]

Noticing his distress, Toothless bent his nose to Hiccup, sniffing him and bumping their heads together.

"I'm good, Toothless," Hiccup assured him. He wasn't freaking out internally or anything.

Hiccup: You're gonna wear out the spring coil. The calibration is very sensitive!

No freaking out going in Hiccup's brain, nope.

[Toothless and Stormfly come running past chasing each other and knock over Astrid and Hiccup]

The image of what seemed to be thousands of villagers surrounding him and asking questions he could not answer did not pop into Hiccup's mind at all.

Hiccup: Yeah, so... this is what I'm dealing with.

Maybe Hiccup was feeling a little helpless. A little useless.

Astrid: What did you tell him?

He glanced at his father, who was already boring his eyes into his head. Immediately he ducked behind his seat and turned around to look at the screen.

"Hiccup?" Astrid looked worried now too. Great, his girlfriend and his dragon were mother-henning him now.

Hiccup: I didn't. By the time he turned around, I was gone.

Hiccup could understand his future actions very well. Hel, he'd run away right now if he could, but no matter how hard he tried, his legs wouldn't move.

Unsure if it was Clara's fault or not, he glared at the screen (since glaring at Clara would mean turning around and possibly facing Stoick again).

Astrid: Well, it's a lot of responsibility. The map will have to wait for sure, and I'll need to fly Toothless, since you'll be too busy...

Hiccup hadn't even thought of that! He looked up sharply, his eyes wider than before. He wouldn't even have time to ride Toothless as chief. It was sounding like a more and more miserable life by the second.

Astrid put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a compassionate look that he didn't really need right now.

[Astrid realizes what she just said]

Hiccup: It's not me, Astrid. All those speeches, and planning, and running the village... that's his thing.

"Hiccup," Stoick spoke softly. His voice still thundered in Hiccup's ears. "I hoped that one day you would grow to care for the village in the same way I do."

Oh no. He sounded disappointed.

Astrid: I think you're missing the point. I mean, chief. What an honor. I'd be pretty excited.

"Oh no," Hiccup shook his head and turned to face his father, a little mad at his tone. First the villagers crowding, then Astrid's pitying eyes, now this? "Don't look at me, dad."

His father gave him a surprised look.

Hiccup: I'm not like you. You know exactly who you are. You always have. But... I'm still looking.

"You too, Astrid," Hiccup added. He pointed at the screen. "Look at him, don't look at me. I have no idea what to do right now if you look at me like that." Astrid was stunned into silence.

I know that I'm not my father... and I never met my mother... so, what does that make me?

"You don't have to run from it, Hiccup," Astrid finally whispered.

"If he gets to," again, he pointed at the screen, "then so do I."

Clara paused the movie with raised eyebrows, looking at the three. This was unanticipated. Wasn't everything fine now?

"You're afraid of being chief even now," Stoick insisted. Cheated, like a barmaid had skimped on the meat in his sandwich.

Oof, Clara winced.

"Of course I am, dad," Hiccup exclaimed with a wild gesture, nearly hitting Toothless' ear. "I'm just a teenager."

Toothless risked the potential harm via Hiccup's wild hands and pushed himself on his rider, inadvertently making him lower his volume. 'You good, fam?' He couldn't ask, but the intent was there.

"Uh," Fishlegs grabbed Snotlout and the twins' attention, as well as their shoulders, forcing them to face away from the Haddock, future-Haddock, and basically-a-Haddock gang. "H-have I told you guys this very interesting fact about, uh, about the Scauldron?"

"Only about twenty times," Tuffnut said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, uh-um…"

Meanwhile, Basically-a-Haddock-Gobber joined the tenser conversation to liaison, a task which he hadn't had to put much effort into since Toothless joined the Haddocks. "Oh, he's just being a stubborn one, Stoick. Just like you when you were his age!"

Stoick disagreed. "I was ready to take care of my people at his age."

"I'm not you," Hiccup said, frowning hard. "Didn't you hear me up there? No, of course you didn't, you never listen."

Gobber winced and Stoick sat a little taller.

Astrid tried to intervene before something very bad happened but was cut off before she could even begin by the chief.

Gobber gave Astrid a nod and a knowing look. This is what your future looks like, his eyes said.

"And you never obey," Stoick shot back. "If you don't feel ready to become a chief, the entire village will suffer for it. You must play your part!"

Astrid frowned, feeling a little indignant at the implications of his statement. Hiccup had done plenty for Berk, and the future looked brighter than ever because of it. The prophecy was testament to that.

"Now Stoick," Gobber tried to calm his friend down. "Let's not forget-"

"I trained a dragon," Hiccup said. He looked downward, not wanting to glare at his dad directly.

Gobber and Astrid looked at him in surprise. Was Hiccup standing up for himself? It almost brought a tear to Gobber's eye, seeing the boy finally grow a spine.

Hiccup continued, more quietly this time. "I trained a dragon, and the war is finally over because of it. But," he gave a faulty chuckle, looking timidly at his hands. "I'm not just a dragon trainer. I'm the dragon trainer. Whenever there's a problem with dragons, I'm apparently the go-to guy."

Astrid frowned. Of course, she thought. Who else were they going to ask?

Stoick almost spoke again, to ask what this had to do with anything. Hiccup's somber mood had already made him calm down, but he couldn't let go of the topic at hand. His son was meant to be a chief! He could feel it.

"Just a few months ago, I wasn't anyone," Hiccup finished. "I was just…useless."

Clara kind of wanted to suck in a breath through her teeth, but instead she turned to the dragon rider behind her, who wanted answers. Now.

She figured she'd left the poor lady hanging for long enough.

Stoick's shoulder's drooped immediately, feeling like a terrible father. Here he was, scolding Hiccup for things he hadn't done yet when the boy was still...

He was unwilling to think of any descriptor for whatever Hiccup still was at the moment (overwhelmed, suffering, healing but not healed, words of emotions that Vikings would only admit to having to their closest loved ones), so he ended that line of thought.

Hiccup is still a teenager, he finally allowed. And, like all teenagers, it was perfectly reasonable of him to let his emotions get the better of him.

"Hiccup," he started. The three around him perked their ears, grimacing in anticipation for Stoick's words. "You're right," he said.

Gobber's jaw fell open.

All they could hear was Fishleg's speaking for a moment.

"I…am?" Hiccup raised his eyes. "I didn't think you'd-"

Astrid elbowed him hard, whispering in his ear, "Quit while you're ahead!"

He scowled and rubbed his bruised arm.

Stoick continued, feigning ignorance. "I shouldn't be taking this out on you. Not now at least. Whatever happens in the future," he put his large hand on Hiccup's small shoulder, "know that I will always be proud of you."

Stoick had been trying hard to listen to Hiccup for a while now. Hiccup knew that. It made for awkward father-son talks that still left a warm feeling in his chest after the uncomfortable "see you later." It proved the whole dragon fiasco wasn't just a fluke, even though Hiccup was not as eloquent in dragon training as he could be.

"Thanks, dad," he responded. A small smile on his lips, but also a furious blush on his face. This was suddenly a very embarrassing conversation to be having in front of Astrid and the other teenagers.

With a quick glance, Hiccup saw that the teens were occupied with dragon facts that were spilling out of Fishleg's mouth at an unnatural rate.

Thanks, Fishlegs, he tried to send the thought telepathically. It must have worked, because the teen sent him a secret thumb up in return.

He looked Astrid in the eyes, and they formed a silent pact to never speak of this moment ever again. She bumped his shoulder with hers (still a little painful, but better than a punch), assuring him that she had never thought the dragon fiasco to be a fluke.

Gobber had already tuned in to many familial discussions and arguments; he knew the drill.

Finally, Hiccup turned to Toothless and very seriously stated, "This never happened."

Toothless was too happy to see him content again. He licked Hiccup, drowning his clothes in saliva.

"Augh, stop!"

"Hey, when's the show starting," Snotlout complained from the front, his hands over Fishleg's mouth. He looked ready to murder someone, which he might if he had to listen to another number come out of Fishleg's mouth.

Clara glanced away from the guest of honor. "Oh, you're done?"

"Who are you talking to?" Snotlout asked curiously.

"Play." The movie began again.

Without getting an answer, Snotlout and the teens turned around to face the screen again. Whatever, not their problem.

Hiccup continued to stare at Clara's guest a while longer before turning around. Suspicious…

Astrid: What you're searching for... isn't out there, Hiccup. [Puts her hand to Hiccup's chest] It's in here. Maybe you just don't see it yet.

The moment was too touching to be embarrassing. Astrid bumped her shoulder into Hiccup's again, giving him a small smile. He returned it.

[Astrid kisses Hiccup but pulls back with Toothless' spit on her face. Disgusted, she tries to wipe it off.]

"Ha!" Snotlout snorted, slapping his knee.

"Disgusting," Ruffnut complained.

Astrid shivered at the sight. "Toothless," she complained.

Hiccup: Maybe. But, y'know... there is something out there.

Astrid: Hiccup...

[He grabs Astrid's chin and points her straight ahead of them, showing her a large cloud of smoke.]

The group is silent at the sight. Suspense builds.

The other half of the reason why the chapter cuts off here is because the Awkward yet tender Haddock moments are pretty much over. Did you like that intermission there? Most of this chapter wasn't even about watching the movie! Even I feel cheated!