Hero stands next to Hiccup outside of the arena. This was his final exam, to kill the Monstrous Nightmare and everybody was so excited to see it. Stoick makes a speech about how proud he was on his son and how he's expecting him to do great but Hiccup didn't feel anything good from it as the grip he has on his helmet tightens.
"Go...tame the Monstrous Nightmare." Hero says, crossing their arms. "Hope your mother's breast hat makes it easier."
That last part was a joke but it seemed like Hiccup wasn't even listening, just staring at his dad. "Hero..." He mutters, turning to his friend. "If anything goes wrong, promise me you'll continue to take care of our dragons."
"Of course. You don't have to worry about that part. Just...focus on this and try not to die." Hero lightly punches Hiccup's chest. "It's going to be even harder for me to learn how to use Toothless' tailfin without your help."
Hiccup goes to say something but Gobber interrupts him. "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead."
Hiccup lets out a deep breath as he puts his helmet on and walks into the arena. The cheering gets louder and he could even hear his classmates cheer as well.
Astrid walks towards Hero and puts hand on their shoulder. "Think he'll be okay?" She asks.
"Rather not give myself false hope." Hero says, fidgeting with their hands.
Hiccup walks towards the weapon stash and awkwardly takes a shield and small dagger from it. "I'm ready." He says, holding his shield up. The gates open and the Monstrous Nightmare bursts out of it, its entire body on fire. It first tries to find a way to escape but once it doesn't see any, it focuses on Hiccup and slowly crawls towards him as Hiccup slowly backs up.
Hiccup drops his weapons and hovers his hands over the dragon's face, trying to calm it down. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay." He assures before noticing the dragon was focusing on his hat, seeing that as a weapon as well. Hiccup takes it off and throws it to the side stating, "I'm not one of them."
The crowd gasps in shock and talk in quiet murmurs.
"Stop the fight." Stoick demands, standing up.
"No!" Hiccup shouts, focusing back on the Monstrous Nightmare. "I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
"I said stop the fight!!!!" Stoick's voice booms as he slams his hammer into the cage, denting it.
The Monstrous Nightmare's eyes turn into slits and it tries to bite Hiccup's hand. Hiccup yelps and runs away from it, narrowly dodging its blast of fire.
"Hiccup!!!" Hero shouts as Astrid gets an ax from nearby and uses it to lodge the gate open enough for Hero to crawl under. Astrid follows from behind and looks around, seeing a hammer on the ground. She quickly picks it up and throws it at the Monstrous Nightmare who growls at the pain and starts to chase after Astrid and Hero.
Stoick, who had run down to where they were, fully opened the gate with his bare hands and called for them to come over. "This way!!!"
Astrid and Hero quickly make their way over there but Hiccup is blocked by another blast from the Monstrous Nightmare. He tries to dodge it and run away but the dragon bounces on him and holds him down with its claws.
Hero slides under Stoick's arm and takes their spear out. They use the bottom of it to hook onto the dragon's mouth and pull it away from Hiccup who quickly stands back up.
"Hero!" Hiccup calls as Hero pushes him behind them.
"Hero, get out of there!" They hear their mother call.
Hero starts backing away from the Monstrous Nightmare with Hiccup, holding their spear up just in case it tries to pounce on them. It does at some point but before it could reach them, a roar is heard through the sky and something blasts at the cage, destroying it and creating a huge puff of smoke.
Once the smoke clears it reveals Koi and Toothless fighting the Monstrous Nightmare biting and scratching at it until it cowered away.
Hero and Hiccup's eyes widen at the sight of their dragons in front of them and try to push them away.
"Guys go, get out of here." Hiccup says as the dragons refused to leave and stood their ground. All the Viking around them slipped through the bars and ran towards the dragons with the intent of either capturing or killing.
"Leave!" Hero demands, noticing their mother and sister slip through the bars as well. "Fly away, please!"
Stoick grabs an ax from the weapons next to him and runs into the ring, ignoring Astrid's protests.
"Dad, no, he won't hurt you!" Hiccup cries as Toothless narrows his eyes at his father and charges towards him. "Toothless- You're making this worse!"
Koi growls at the Vikings around them as Hero readies their spear in front of them, blocking their dragon from everybody else.
"I don't want to fight any of you..." They mutter, their eyes locking onto their mother. "Please..."
The Vikings ignore them and charge at Koi who fights back. Hero goes in fighting as well, making sure not to actually stab anybody with their spear.
"Hero, no!" Hiccup shouts but his voice doesn't reach them and he's forced to watch the chaos around him in panic. Nobody's listening to him and everybody's getting hurt in some way.
Toothless tackles Stoick to the ground and opens his mouth, readying to finish the job.
"No!" Hiccup shouts once more. "NO!!!"
His voice booms through the arena but it stops the wrong people. Koi and Toothless freeze at his command while Hero turns their head to Hiccup.
Freya used that to her advantage and pinned Hero to the ground. While the Vikings around them attack Koi and Toothless and quickly pin them to the ground as well.
"Freya, get off me!!!" Hero shouts, struggling against their sister.
"Hero."
They freeze when they hear their mother call their name and look up at the woman who was glaring at them. "Fuck..." Hero mutters.
A couple of feet away, Astrid was holding Hiccup back from running towards Toothless.
They were fucked...
-----
Hero's mom throws them into their room and shuts the door behind them.
"What the hell was that!?" She shouts as Hero struggles to stand up. "You defended a dragon! A dragon!? Wha- When have you ever cared about dragons!? Where did this even come from!?"
"Mom, let me explain-" Hero starts.
"Shut up. I am not listening to a traitor."
"But you literally just asked me-" Hero pauses and takes a deep breath. "Mom, I'm not a traitor, it's not like I killed anybody. We've been in one spot the entire time! We never left!"
"And does that change the fact that you befriended one!? That you befriended the very thing that attacks our village and raids our food every night!? That's not even the worst part! The worst part is that it's a StormStriker out of all the dragons! Those dragons barely even fucking raid us! Did you go out of your way to find one? Hero, what other dragons have you befriended!?"
"None! Well besides Toothless-"
"Toothless!? The Night Fury!? You've been with the Night Fury as well!? See!? This is why I can't trust you by yourself! This is why I wanted you to stay here!"
"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, I can take care of myself!"
"And do the wrong thing!" Their mom huffs and looks around their child's room. No windows...only one true exit and that was the door. "Hero. You're a traitor."
"No I'm no-"
"So I can't let you leave."
Hero's eyes widened. "What!? What does that mean!?"
"I'm going to lock you in here until I can talk to Stoick about what we're going to do with you and Hiccup because we clearly can't just let you two roam free."
"Mom-"
Freya pops into the room. "Mom..." She calls. "Stoick is here..."
Stoick comes in from behind her and immediately glares at Hero who frowns at him.
"Saga, we figured out how to find the Dragon's Nest." Stoick informs and Hero gasps in shock. "The blue dragon found it."
"The StormStriker? So...we're going to make it help us get to the dragon's nest?" Saga questions.
"Yes. And we'll take the Night Fury with us in case something happens. Hiccup said only a dragon can find it so pack up, we're leaving now."
"Wait, what!?" Hero shouts, pulling on their mother's arm. "No! Don't go to the Dragon's Nest, you'll all die! I almost died! Twice!"
"Hiccup told me you saw the Dragon's Nest as well..."
"Because he can't keep his mouth shut when under pressure, it's stupid, I know!" Hero continues to shout, getting more and more frustrated. "But listen to me! I've been there! There's a gigantic dragon inside the volcano, you won't survive this fight! And even if you do try, don't bring our dragons with you!"
"That's your main worry!?" Saga shouts back. "The dragons!? Not the other vikings!?"
"Isn't telling you all not to go good enough!?"
Saga lets out a frustrated scream and turns to Stoick. "Get out of my house, I'll join you shortly."
"Mom, no!"
She then hands Freya a key as Stoick walks out of the house. "Do not. Let her out."
"What? I'm not coming with?" Freya questions, holding the key to her chest. "Why?"
"To stop anybody who tries to break Hero out. You're a strong girl. At least I can trust one of my children."
Freya nods with a small frown and quickly locks the door from the outside, ignoring Hero's cries and shouts.
"I'll guard it with my life."
"Thank you. Let's pray to the gods that we end this once and for all." Sags says, grabbing her ax and walking away.
"Mom!!!" Hero shouts, banging on the door. "You can't leave me in here, you can't! What type of mother locks their child in a room!? Mom!!!" When they realized their mother wasn't paying attention they screamed something they would immediately regret. "I HATE YOU!!!"
Freya's eyes widen at the words while Saga freezes in her spot.
Hero starts to panic and quickly apologizes. "Wait, no, I'm sorry, mom, I'm sorry! Please don't go! Don't do this, please!"
Their mother continues to walk away and out of the house.
"Please!!!!"