Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon
It is a Dreamworks copyright.

A/N: Wow it's the second chapter of the first fanfic
I don't know what to say but I'd like to thank Amaya for giving me that tip.

I really needed it.

Read and Enjoy and don't forget to...

REVIEW!
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Hiccup woke up to Toothless licking him on the face. He sat up and looked around and saw a note on the table. Hobbling to it, he picked up the note and read it silently while Toothless saw it from behind him.

Morning Hiccup,

I left early in the morning in order to organize a council meeting. Get yourself some breakfast and meet me at the docks after I'm done.

Stoick the Vast

"Ok Toothless, what do you want for breakfast? Oh wait...let me guess: more fish," said Hiccup. Toothless looked up at him with a look of expectancy and innocence at the same time. "Fine, I'll get breakfast," he said. On his way to the butcher's shop, he bumped into the only other man who had a peg leg, Gobber.

" 'allo there Hiccup! How's the dragon and your leg?," Gobber asked.

"Toothless is doing just fine, but I don't think I could say the same for my leg," Hiccup replied as he almost fell down yet another flight of stairs.

"Ah well...you'll get used to it," he said. "By the way, did your dad tell you about the upcoming tournament?"

This question caught Hiccup off guard. "Tournament? What tournament?" he asked.

"Oh so he hasn't told you yet, eh? Well you'll find out about it pretty soon." And he walked away as fast as his peg leg would allow.

[Okay...that was a little weird], thought Hiccup. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he quickened his pace. He took the back roads because he didn't want to attract attention. Upon reaching the butcher shop, he got 30 fishes for Toothless and got a meat stick for himself. He reached home without any delay and was greeted with an excited and hungry dragon that tackled him as soon as he walked in. While Toothless munched on the fish with satisfaction, Hiccup nibbled a little bit of his stick and sighed. He wasn't that hungry. After he finished, he put on a full cloak and went outside while Toothless immediately made his sleeping spot on the table.

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Stoick had just come out of the council hall. The contents of the letter weren't as grim as he made it out to be, but he felt that it was far more sinister. He had recieved a proclamation from the new empire that had conquered a lot of enemies, the Moran Empire. It was requesting for its neighbors to participate in a fighting tournament in order to strengthen the bond between each other. He personally felt that it wanted to boast that it had the strongest warriors and army by having this facade of a tournament. Apparently the council didn't seem to agree with his intuition because they thought that it was a great idea. Stoick had to tell his son about it because people insisted that they wanted to see father and son fight in the tournament. He knew that convincing his son to take part in a fighting tournament would be about as easy as trying to get Toothless to eat eels. Still, he had to give it a shot. He was waiting patiently at the docks when a small figure in a cloak came up to him.

"Hey, dad what happened?," asked Hiccup as he was removing the hood of the cloak.

"I don't know where to start, so I'm just going to get to the point. The Moran Empire has decided to hold an invitational fighting tournament in order to strengthen its bonds with its neighbors. The majority of the council thought that it was a good idea to participate, so that we aren't seen as weak. However, they want you to be our junior participant."

"What? Why me?," exclaimed Hiccup.

"Because they think that father and son would look good fighting in the tournament and representing Berk."

"Why don't they have someone participate who is actually good at fighting?," suggested Hiccup

"Like who?," his father demanded.

"Like...I don't know...Astrid."

"So, long story short, you don't want to do it because you think that you aren't that good in fighting? Hiccup, you are my SON! It's in our blood to fight hard," Stoick said heatedly.

"Dad, I may be your son, but I'm not you. Besides how do you expect me to fight with this damn peg leg?," Hiccup asked.

Stoick couldn't answer that question. "Fine Hiccup, you win. I'll ask the council if they can have Astrid be our junior representative." After a momentary pause, he continued, "Son, it'll be best if you head on home. I will discuss with the village elder myself and present your view on this." Saying so, he went back into town and disappeared into the crowd.

Hiccup flipped up the hood and went back to his house taking a few shortcuts here and there. He went straight in and closed the door quietly so that the resting dragon wouldn't wake up. Going straight up to his room, he laid down on his bed and sighed.

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A hooded man walked into a dark alley and opened a door. Inside there was dim lighting and another man that was seated. The seated man had a scar running diagonally across his face, as if someone tried to draw an "X" but didn't finish. His hands were smooth and on his fingers there was a plethora of rings.

"Well?," demanded the man that was seated.

The hooded man fidgeted nervously as he spoke. "The Shadow Assassins are willing to help."

The seated man laughed. "Perfect."

The hooded man turned around to leave and the seated man said, "Hold on." As the hooded man turned around, the seated man said, "I assume you want your payment before you leave."

"Oh no no I'm fine," replied the hooded man nervously.

"Please, I insist." The seated man beckoned and another man in the room brought forth a small chest and opened it revealing one ruby, one sapphire, and one emerald, each one as vivid as the other.

The hooded man came up and took the chest that was offered while thanking profusely. He turned around and walked to the door. No sooner than he had touched the handle, he felt a sharp and stinging pain in the center of his back. He turned around and saw a red metal dagger stabbed into him. He became dizzy and fell.

"The best part is that it isn't the knife that kills, it's the poison," said the seated man as the hooded man squirmed and writhed with pain. Then, the hooded man stopped moving and the last thought on his mind was, [The king is in danger.]

"The seated man took a sip of wine. "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan. Soon I will be the king of the Moran Empire and I will make sure all of our 'neighbors' will be crushed beneath our boots." The man laughed as the dead body of the once alive person was being picked up and tossed into the sea.

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What will happen? Who is the seated man? Will Astrid participate?
Find out in the next chapter.

Read and Review and I'll try post up the next chapter shortly (2-12 days)

And that's it...I'm signing off.