This is where I belong ||httyd fanfic||

18.After the Dragon raid

By the time Hiccup, Toothless, and their new friend made it to the village plaza, the raid was nearly over – the enemy dragons knew by now from the expertly planned defense and counterattacks of Selardalr's dragons and their small human leader that it was a losing battle. Most had been forced to flee already, with the last of the stragglers being chased off with further fire blasts from the Nightmares and even additional help from the Nadders, who left the Gronkles to finish putting out the last remaining fires, in the form of magnesium flare shots and spine barrages. A few of the raiders, however had suffered great injury and were left behind while others were much too curious about the boy who had commanded dragons and the dragons who fought for the boy, especially the dreaded Night Fury who all dragons and Vikings had feared since birth. Among their numbers were four more Nadders, two more Nightmares, a Whispering Death, three more Zipplebacks, two Gronkles, a few Terrible Terrors, and of course, the Changewing from earlier.

Hiccup and Toothless landed, immediately earning a recoil from all the gathered dragons as he approached a Terrible Terror and picked it up. The little dragon was greatly tense, but soon calmed as Hiccup began stroking its hide with his hand while approaching a Monstrous Nightmare writhing in pain from claw marks it received from one of his trained Nightmares. Hiccup only looked sad as he approached the mighty beast and began stroking its snout; the dragon wanted to snap back and bite the human's hand off but held back the urge due to its lack of strength and the calming hand of the little human before him.

'Of all the dragons I have to see hurt, why'd it have to be this one?' Hiccup thought, looking over his shoulder to Toothless and making sure to hide any kind of abnormal behavior from him. Toothless, unfortunately, was not so easily fooled, shown by the cock of his head and the trudge up to Hiccup to nudge his shoulder and whine to ask what was wrong.

"It's nothing bud, I'm fine." He lied. "Besides, I'd say these guys are in way worse shape." He turned to the small fleet of dragons, who by now had all amassed together in the air before touching down to the ground and looking at him expectantly.

"Good job, you guys, a counter-raid well done." He congratulated turning to face them all with Toothless by his side. "I'd say the only thing left is to lend a helping hand, or claw in you guys' case, to the stragglers here." Hiccup, the dragons, and the Silent Wolf vikings had worked out a condition in planning out their defenses in the event of a raid on Selardalr while planning out their defenses. Any dragons that were injured or left behind would be taken in to be treated and then trained: this way, the dragons would be saved and hopefully be added to their ranks in time for the next raid, whenever it would come. The Silent Wolf vikings liked the idea: it would give them more dragons to work with and more defenses for their village.

The dragons all nodded their heads and walked forward to help their former enemies, now injured new juniors, lifting them up with their necks or letting them rest their wings and use them as crutches to walk forward. They were beginning to carry them off to the arena to await treatment when the Silent Wolf's began to gather around surrounding them and stopped. The new dragons all looked nervous, swinging their heads to and fro at the mass of humans, who began clapping their hands and cheering.

"Way ta go, Hiccup!"

"Tha' was one heck of a fight!"

"Lovin tha' Fire Spiral!"

"No one handles dragons like you, boy!"

All these and more were shouted out, men pumping their fists and calling out nothing but praise for the excellent performance of Hiccup, Toothless, and their dragon legion. Hiccup looked down with a small blush on his face, shuffling his feet in the dirt. It was not the first time he had received such kind, proud words, but he loved every second of it. These were the words he knew he would never hear from the mouth of any Hooligan. Hiccup had found his own talents, done things his own way, didn't have to change for anyone, and here he was being celebrated for it all. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world to Hiccup, and seeing Harold at the front of the crowd suddenly, joining the others in verbal pats on the back, only intensified it. Everyone was truly impressed with his talents and actions in saving their village, all except for one.