Night turned into day. Dark gave into daylight. It was brighter now than when Hiccup first left the village to look for the dragon. He had been walking for awhile without finding the dragon and started to mutter to himself. Other people lost a pen, a sock, a mug. But no, he had to lose an entire dragon. The woods weren`t that big, but he couldn`t even find the dragon he knew he caught in the bola. Why couldn`t he have just this one thing?
Then suddenly he saw something big and black in front of him, and crouched quickly behind a fallen tree. He straightened up just enough to look over the big tree and then crouched again. It was the Night Fury. The most dangerous dragon in the world was right in front of him. And he was entangled in the bola and couldn`t move. Hiccup`s heart was beating so fast and hard, but this was his chance and he had to take it. He was going to kill a dragon. He was going to kill a Night fury.
He stood up and slowly walked to the black dragon. Although he was unable to move, Hiccup still felt a bit scared. When he stood there with the dragon in front of him he felt a bit more confident. He could kill a dragon. And when he had, people would appreciate him a lot more, they would respect him. He took his knife.
The dragon had turned his head as much as it could to look at him. The bola was so tight around his body that he couldn`t even flicker his tail. Hiccup looked at the green eye and then looked at the spot where the heart would be. He raised the knife over his head and held it with two hands.
"I´m going to kill you, you monster" Hiccup said, more to himself than to the dragon. "I`m a Viking, and we kill monsters like you. I´m going to prove to them that I am a real Viking."
But as he stood there with the knife over his head, he started to hesitate. The dragon made some sounds, but he didn`t roar or growl. He sounded hurt, afraid. Hiccup looked at the dragon`s face again. Saw the fear in his eye. And he saw something else. Hiccup still tried to convince himself to kill the dragon. But he couldn`t. He couldn`t kill the dragon. He couldn`t kill a dragon that looked at him like that. Like it was like him.
Hiccup took a deep breath, then lowered the knife and started to cut the ropes. When the dragon was free, he flew at Hiccup. Hiccup stumbled back and was stopped by a big rock. He was sure that the dragon would finish him. The dragon growled and opened his big mouth and roared. But then it turned away from him and ran off. Hiccup sat there and blinked. He was okay. He was still alive. He let out a shaky sigh and got up on his feet. But he was in shock and his knees were shaking so much he could only take a few steps before he fainted.
When he woke up, the dragon was gone. He couldn`t see it but thought it was best to get back to the village. The dragon hadn`t killed him, not even hurt him, but it was a Night Fury after all. He thought about the Night Fury all the way back to the village. The sounds he made. The fear in his eyes. But then it was the other thing. It had been like seeing himself.
When Hiccup were lying in his bed that night, he was thinking about the Night Fury again. The Night Fury was a very dangerous dragon, they all knew that. So why didn`t it hurt him? He was going to kill him and he didn`t even scratch him.
The next day was the first day of dragon training. Not something Hiccup really looked forward to. Given the previous day, he wasn`t able to kill a dragon. But when he tried to talk to his dad, it didn`t go that well. So here he was. But these dragons were not tied up. Besides, the rest of the students didn`t like him, didn`t want him there, and would not make it easy for him. So why did he have to be there?
The others, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid and Ana were all excited about dragon training and learning how to really fight a dragon. Tuffnut wanted to get burns, Ruffnut was hoping for some mauling. Astrid said it wasn`t any fun if you didn`t get a scar out if it. But they were not too enthusiastic about Hiccup being there.
"Why is he even here?" Tuffnut asked.
"Yeah" Snotlout said. "I mean, come on!" Snotlout pointed at him with his hands. "He`s, he`s… you know. A failure".
Gee, thanks for always pointing that out, Hiccup thought.
"He did say he hit a Night Fury" Ana said, but didn`t sound like she believed it.
"Then he doesn`t have to be here, right?" Snotlout asked.
"I want to be with the cool Vikings" Tuffnut said.
"Now kids, come on" Gobber said. "You have a lot to learn today. We are going to start with type of dragon and what abilities they have". He put his hand on Hiccup`s shoulder and gently pushed him in to the arena. "Don`t worry. You are too small and weak for them to pay any attention to you."
Great. He wasn`t even good enough for the dragons to think of him as a threat. Hiccup walked after the others. They stopped in the middle of the arena. Gobber opened the cages one by one and told them about the breed. Gronckle, Hideous Zippelback, Terrible Terror, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare. Fishlegs recited the statistics. Speed, deadly and so on. Gobber got more and more annoyed.
"Would you just shut up?!"
Fishlegs immediately stopped talking.
"Now" Gobber said, when he had showed them all the dragons in the cages "starts the real training. It is all about surviving." He opened the door and let a Gronckle out.
"Aren`t you gonna teach us first?" Snotlout asked with a tone of panic.
"I believe in learning on the job. Now what do you need?"
"A doctor?" Hiccup asked.
"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs asked.
"Shield!" Astrid said.
"Yes!" Gobber said. "Go! Your most important equipment is the shield. If you have to choose, always choose the shield."
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were arguing over a shield they both wanted. They didn`t pay any attention to the Gronckle, so they never saw it coming and suddenly a fireball split the shield in two. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were dazed on the ground.
"Ruffnut, Tuffnut. You`re out!"
Snotlout tried to impress Astrid, wanting her to come to his house and work out. But she wasn`t interested in that, and she had much more important things to think about right now. Snotlout got hit by a fireball.
"Snotlout, you're done." Gobber said. As he said that, Fishlegs shield was blasted out is hand and he was also done. "Only Astrid, Ana and Hiccup left. Get out there Hiccup."
The Gronckle flew towards them. Astrid and Ana ran in opposite directions, but Hiccup was too slow and the fireball almost hit him. He ran, but another fireball landed close to him. He was close to the wall and just turned around and slid down and sat there while he saw the Gronckle get ready for another blast.
Gobber placed his hook in the Gronckle`s mouth and forced it to turn around.
"That`s enough, back to bed you overgrown sausage. You`ll have a new chance tomorrow." He threw the dragon back in its cage. "Remember: a dragon will always – always- go for the kill!"
A/N. Someone asked me if Eyla will be in this story and she will not. She belongs in A New Dragon Rider and she will stay there.
I hope you will like this story. As always every view, favorite, follow and review is very much appreciated.