Wow… only ONE review for this story. Where did I go wrong here? At least the one who did review left ideas for Dragons I could use here in this story. But for now, let us begin again. For there is still much to see in this story. I just hope this one produces better results for your tastes.
*I still don't own How To Train Your Dragon or Star Wars: The Clone Wars!*
Return of a Master - Padawan Versus Dragon!
Walking along through the forest of Berk is an old man who looks like he's in his early to mid fifties. He has gray hair and a thick gray beard, pale skin with fewer wrinkles than one would expect on someone his age, and he seems to be in pique physical condition despite his age. His blue eyes shone with great wisdom and experience. He wears an outfit that is mostly black and mahogany in color, and like Hiccup, he too carries the hilt of a 'laser sword' on his belt. It too his curved, only it has this kind of prong on the emitter that looks like a scorpion stinger.
The man paused as he heard a beeping sound and held up his wrist to see a hologram of a certain wrinkly green imp appear before him.
"Master Dooku, found your Padawan yet, have you?" he asked.
"Not yet, Master Yoda. I am nearing Berk now, but the village appears to be in the midst of a Dragon Raid. Chances are, my Padawan has gotten himself into a bit of a jam like he always seems to do." the man, now known as Dooku, replied.
The green skinned imp, better known as Yoda, chuckled at that notion. He remembers fondly the young boy who wanted nothing more than to prove himself to both the Jedi order, and to the people of his village. Hiccup is one of the few Jedi who are allowed to stay with their families should they choose to, but so far the young boy didn't seem welcome by the majority of his people.
Yoda remembers fondly the day that his former Padawan, Count Dooku, chose the young Viking to be his Padawan after Qui-Gon Jinn had made Knighthood. The young lad had so many ideas for improving the temple's defenses and even to try and make things easier for the people of his village that it seemed like his head might explode from the crazy things he was coming up with. Things like Bola Launchers, automated Crossbows and the like.
It did his heart good to see such a creative young mind trying so hard to make life better for everyone. However, he seemed to have the worst luck as trouble often seemed to find its way to him even when he wasn't looking for trouble.
"Unorthodox, young Hiccup's luck is. So too, will be his trials." Yoda stated.
"That is something that concerns me, Master. I'm not certain that my Padawan is ready for the trials that will lead to Knighthood. He is barely fourteen and has yet to see the true horrors of this war we have found ourselves in because of the Separatists." Dooku replied, voicing his concerns.
Yoda simply chuckled in response and replied with "Trust in the Force, you must, Dooku. Take the trials, your Padawan will."
Dooku sighed and simply nodded in response. He knows that it is the will of the Force that Hiccup take the Knight Trials and ascend to the rank of Jedi Knight, but he still felt that fourteen was awfully young for him to be knighted. Dooku suddenly tensed as he heard the sound of growling.
He looked past some bushes to see his student meditating as he seemed to be telepathically communicating with a Dragon. Though, which Dragon it is, Dooku doesn't know. But what was concerning him was the fact that a Monstrous Nightmare was creeping up behind him and he didn't even notice it!
"Oh, for the love of…" muttered Dooku.
He immediately rushed in and got ready to defend his student, but he was blindsided by a Boulder Class wreaking ball of pure Dragon fury. Dooku grunted as he made contact with the ground and quickly flipped over so he was on his feet, Lightsaber drawn and its blue blade ignited.
The Dragon in question was a Dragon with a long, thick, snake-like body and a huge head with even bigger teeth sticking out from its lips. It is pure white in color with bulbous red eyes that combined make it seem albino in appearance. Like all Boulder Class Dragons, this one has wings that are proportionately smaller than the rest of its body. Opening its mouth as it growled at Dooku, he saw three huge rows of teeth on the upper and lower jaw like those of a Whispering Death, only these ones are set in a chin reminiscent of a Dragon that Dooku can only describe as a tyrannical queen. Its body is covered in spines that are tipped red, and it has a segmented underbelly.
As the Dragon continued to glare at Dooku, the Jedi Master smirked at the prospect of a challenge that he might get from a Dragon.
"Well, you're magnificent! And you've got a lot to say, don't you?" Dooku asked.
The Dragon roared at Dooku in challenge and got into its own form of a fighting stance. Dooku too got into a fighting stance, setting himself in the beginning stance of Form II; Makashi.
"Well then, let's see if you can back it up." Dooku challenged.
Dooku and the Dragon roared as they charged at each other, ready to see who is truly the stronger of the two. Dooku leaps up into the air and does a forward flip before bringing the blade of his Lightsaber down, only to find himself forced to deflect a rapid volley of fireballs from the dragon's maw. The force of this attack sends the Jedi Master back a bit before the dragon flung its tail forward and launched several spines at him.
"WHOA!" yelped Dooku.
He dove out of the way of a very large spine that surely would have killed him if he didn't deflect or dodge in time, and was surprised to see the remainder of the spines bring down large trees. As he inspected the damage, Dooku paled a little bit. He realized that the Dragons that live on this planet are the real deal. Nothing like those Krayt Dragon fakers on Tatooine.
He looked back up at the Whispering Death look-alike and grinned. Just from fighting against this mighty creature, Dooku already could feel a certain connection beginning to form with it.
'A smart creature, he is.' Dooku thought to himself.
The Dragon seemed to be thinking the same thing as Dooku. It has never met a human that was so strong without having to be one of those bulky Vikings that it's come across many times in the past. This one is elderly, and yet he is fast, he's strong AND he's smart. A combination that just doesn't scream Viking.
The Dragon just wondered who, and what, this human really is. It perked up as it heard a familiar buzzing noise. Fighting this human would have to wait. For now, it has to bring food back to the Queen of the nest. And that means it'll have to find food from the ocean to please the Queen and avoid getting eaten.
Roaring one final time to Dooku as if to say 'this isn't over!', the Dragon turned around and flew away from the island, using its tail as a powerful rotor to aid in flying with its small wings. Dooku deactivated his Lightsaber and stared at the retreating Dragon. Sighing to himself, Dooku clipped his weapon back to his belt.
"Well, that was fun." he quipped.
He quickly began to make his way to the village in order to meet up with his Padawan. He still needs to inform him about the council's decision in regards to the Knight Trials.
*With Hiccup, Same Time…*
While Dooku was fighting his own Dragon, Stoick and his men had managed to tie down the Nadders in the net. However, he found himself turning around when he heard the familiar sound of Hiccup's 'laser sword' deflecting stuff. There, backpedalling from a Monstrous Nightmare while deflecting fireballs was Hiccup, his jade green blade moving almost like a blur as he continued to fight his way to safety.
At least, that's what Stoick assumed was happening.
In truth, Hiccup had challenged the Nightmare, one warrior to another, to a small duel to see where they both lied in terms of skill. The Nightmare, at first, used some of its fire like a makeshift sword to combat against Hiccup in swordsmanship before switching to long range.
Not that Stoick knew this, and he likely didn't care. All that raced through his mind was killing the Dragon.
"Do not let them escape!" he ordered his men.
"Right!" one of them replied.
With that done, Stoick ran off to try and 'protect' his son. Like he really needs protecting.
As for Hiccup, he was running through the village as fast as his legs could carry him, his Lightsaber active and ready to attack and defend at a moment's notice. And defend he did. He spun around just in time to deflect two fire blasts from the Nightmare before running behind the remaining brazier that was standing. He yelped at the heat as the Nightmare's fire hit the brazier instead of him, but he could still feel the heat of the flame as the attack went on.
When it was over, Hiccup leapt out from the safety of the brazier and readied his Lightsaber for combat. This time, he took the beginning stance of Form IV; Ataru. The Nightmare also growled and got ready to resume this honorable battle… only for Stoick to jump in front of Hiccup and interrupt the fight. The Nightmare tried to roast Stoick with its flame, but came upon a horrible discovery. It reached its shot limit, as proven by the smoke that came from its mouth instead of fire.
Stoick smirked cruelly and readied his hammer.
"You're all out." Stoick growled smugly.
Stoick proceeded to pummel the Monstrous Nightmare in the face using his hammer, making the Dragon grunt in pain with each hit. Hiccup deactivated his Lightsaber and winced each time the hammer made contact with flesh. Good thing Dragons have very strong bones, or the Nightmare would have gotten a broken neck by now.
Shaking its head after another hit, the Nightmare decided that it had had enough of being used as a living pinata and flew off. Huffing and puffing from fighting so much, Stoick turned around to face Hiccup. His expression was clearly unamused, both by the fact that Hiccup thought he could take on that Dragon alone, and that he didn't stay at the forge like Gobber told him to.
"Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know." Hiccup started to say.
Unfortunately, the brazier had taken more damage than suspected from the Monstrous Nightmare and its fire. It slowly broke apart and fell right in the direction of the Vikings holding down the captured Nadders, forcing them to run for their lives unless they wanted to get crushed under tons of wood.
The Nadders seized the opportunity and freed themselves from the net before flying away with all of the other Dragons. It seems like it was a tie between the Dragons and the Vikings during this raid. The Dragons still got away with their kill, but their haul wasn't big enough to have any sort of impact on the villagers. Hiccup and Stoick stared at the downed brazier for a moment, both having raised eyebrows at how convenient the timing of that was.
Finally, Hiccup broke the silence. But not with one of his usual sarcastic quips.
"...That thing's structural integrity was already compromised when I got here." Hiccup stated after a bit of awkward silence.
Stoick just placed his face in his palm at Hiccup's uncanny ability to make a situation seem less important than it really was. Although, now that he took a closer look, he could see that it was the Nightmare's fire that did the deed, not Hiccup's weapon.
"Okay, I see your point." Stoick relented.
*To Be Continued…*
Well, there's that chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed the appearance of the Screaming Death in this chapter. Not a very long fight, I understand, but I hope it at least gets me more than one review this time. See you all later.
