WOOOOO! CHAPTER 3 IS READY!
Sorry this took so long. Life's been a bit crazy. But I'm back now, and this chapter shall soon be completed! And I might post chapter 4 tomorrow. But we have had some reviews since I last posted this fic... a very long time ago... so:
Patrica Louise A. Pena: Glad to hear it! Now, as for your question, I did say in chapter 2 that Jardar would be getting a short fic containing his backstory. I've posted the summary for it on my profile, and depending on how many people want it, I'll post it sooner or later.
Bloody Rogue dragon deity king: What do you mean by that?
ediblesunshine25: Thank you! I'm unsure of what you mean by major changes, but if you specify I'll gladly give you an answer. As for Himinn, she does love Hiccup and is willing to defend him, but she also likes teasing him whenever she thinks it's appropriate.
Reviews from after chapter was posted:
Bloody Rogue dragon deity king: Ahhh. Yeah, Himinn is rather supportive of Hiccup as I've stated. The other teens are friendly to Hiccup because their group kind of works off an 'alpha male' mentality. Since Himinn is the chief's daughter, they look up to her, and therefore see past the adult's prejudice against Hiccup. The incomplete chapter will be deleted after I post this chapter update.
GuardianDragon98: Yeah, Himinn's pretty supportive of the people she likes. Aw man, now I really want to do Jardar's backstory just so I can write Himinn being a pain in Alvin's everything!
And the Dragon Nip. Ohhh, the fun I will have with the Dragon Nip. Question for you, does it only effect Erland like that (Loved the bit where Zenna prayed to Loki) or would it work on anyone?
….
Hiccup had, since his fainting spell, woken up, and was attempting to sneak into the house. Himinn was polishing off the last few pieces of yak chops on her dinner plate, and Stoick was whittling a wooden duck (didn't they have enough of those?), meaning he could easily sneak upstairs while they were-
"Hiccup.".
He stopped midclimb. "Dad! Uhh… look, I need to talk to you.".
Stoick stood up. "I need to speak with you too, son.".
Then at the same time, Hiccup said, "I've decided I don't want to fight dragons." and Stoick said, "I think it's time you learn to fight dragons.". Then both looked at each other, and said "What?".
Stoick gestured to his son. "You go first.".
Hiccup shook his head. "You go first.".
Stoick nodded. "Alright. You get your wish. Dragon Training. You start in the morning.".
Hiccup began panicking. "Ohh, I should have gone first. Because, you know, we have a surplus of dragon fighting vikings, but do we have enough bread-making vikings? Or small home repair vikings, or-".
He was cut off by Stoick dumping a heavy axe into his hands. "You'll need this.".
Gasping under the weight, the youngest Haddock gasped out, "I don't want to fight dragons.".
Himinn, who had remained silent thus far, burst into laughter. "BWAHAHA! PRICELESS! Hiccup, that's the funniest thing I've heard… since…" She looked at him. "Holy Frigg, you're serious.".
Hiccup groaned. "Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons.".
Stock laughed. "But you will kill dragons!".
Himinn facepalmed. "Dad, I'm fairly sure that he won't.".
Stoick shot her a glare. "It's Hiccup's time," he said sternly, ignoring Hiccup's demand if he could even hear him. He turned back to his son.
"This is serious, son! When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you.".
This was met with a snicker. "Dad, YOU couldn't possibly lift the entire village. How do you expect Hiccup to?".
He continued, ignoring the comment. "You walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us.".
"NOOOOOO! NOT HIS ABILITY TO THINK RATIONALLY! IT'S ALL HE HAS!".
"No more of… this.".
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You just gestured to all of me.".
Stoick looked him straight in the eyes. "Deal?".
Himinn called over, "From where I'm sitting, this conversation is looking very one-sided!".
Hiccup winced as his father's gaze bored into him. "Deal.".
The chief smiled and slung a duffel bag over his shoulder. "Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably.".
Hiccup sighed. "And I'll be here.". He waited until Stoick was out the door before finishing. "…maybe.".
Himinn looked at him. "Alright, what happened? You were so gung-ho about killing dragons.".
He sighed again and explained what had happened in the forest.
When he had finished, Himinn looked remarkably astonished, before closing her mouth. "Okay. I can't get you out of Dragon Training, but I can help with something else.".
"And that would be?".
"Tomorrow, you're going to go into the woods to find that Night Fury. And I'm coming along for the ride.".
...
After a restless sleep, Hiccup was absolutely unprepared for Dragon Training. The only thing that was even slightly reassuring was Himinn's presence, as she and the other older teens had been giving him some advice- even Sasslout, who preferred the current heir to the Cheiftainship than the one the tribe would recieve if Hiccup died- her brother, who was undeniably a cowardly bragging moron.
Helen: He'll probably use the Gronckle or the Terrible Terror first, so stay away from the mouth. If he uses the Nadder, stay away period.
Sasslout: If you can, lure it towards Astrid. She's the best fighter in that arena.
Magnus: Trick Ruff and Tuff into fighting each other.
Edna: Instant distraction, just add Thorstons.
Jardar: Drop your weapon if you get targeted. It'll weigh you down and make it harder to escape.
Himinn: Keep in mind Jardar has his knives ready if it looks like anyone's in danger. We won't let anyone die.
And then they'd left, leaving Hiccup at the entrance while they walked up to the chain dome above the arena (after a pat on the back and a whisper of, "Give 'em Hel!".
Gobber opened the gate with a wide grin. "Welcome to Dragon Training!".
Astrid was the first one to step into the arena. "No turning back.
The rest of the teens entered, gazing around in awe, until Tuffnut broke the silence. "I hope I get some serious burns!".
Ruffnut nodded in agreement. "I'm hoping for some mauling, like, on my shoulder or lower back.".
At the dome, spectating, the older Thorstons facepalmed and chorused, "Ruff and Tuff, everybody.".
Astrid grinned. "No kidding. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it.".
The rest of the older teens facepalmed.
"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it!".
Himinn chuckled. "Da-da-dah, he's dead.".
Tuffnut groaned. "Oh, great. Who let him in?".
A throwing knife struck his helmet. "Gobber did, genius! Now shaddup!".
"Thank you, Jardar! Alright, let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village!".
Hiccup inhaled sharply when Gobber twisted his hook in front of the scrawny boy's chest until Himinn chucked a rock at the blacksmith's head. "Astrid's a girl, you moron!".
Gobber rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right, sorry.".
Snotlout snickered. "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him, or...?".
Ruffnut giggled and Tuffnut raised his hand and asked, "Can I get transferred to the class with the cool vikings?".
Another knife hit his helmet with a more noticeable impact. "SHUTITYOUORRIBLELITTLEVIKINGSANDLISTENTOGOBBER!".
Himinn twirled her swords, the Decapitator and the Disemboweler (Gobber had named her weapons), and smiled. "Or do I need to come down there?".
Snot gulped. "No, you stay there!".
The teens moved to line up as Gobber placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Don't worry. You're small, you're weak. That'll make you less of a target! The dragons'll go after the more viking-like teens instead.".
Strangely, this was actually encouraging.
Hiccup shouldered his axe as Gobber began talking again. "Behind these doors are just a few of the species that you will learn to fight!".
"Deadly Nadder!".
Fishlegs spoke quietly with a determined smirk. "Speed 8, Armor 16!".
"The Hideous Zippleback!".
"Stealth 11, times two!".
"The Monstrous Nightmare!".
"Firepower 15!".
"The Whispering Death!".
"Shot limit, unknown!".
"The Terrible Terror!".
"Attack 8, Venom 12!".
Gobber finally lost his temper. "CAN YOU STOP THAT!".
He calmed down. "And... the Gronckle!".
Fishlegs, unable to contain himself, whispered, "Jaw Strength, 8.".
Snotlout began panicking when he saw Gobber reaching towards the lever that would open the Gronckle's door. "Wait! Aren't you going to teach us first?!".
Himinn was the one who answered, grinning like a madwoman. "He believes in learning on the job. HIT IT, GOBBER!".
The cage opened and the dragon burst out, growling as her wings beat furiously. "Today is about survival!".
Himinn giggled. "I'll give you guys the short version: Get blasted, get out!".
The Gronckle smacked into a wall as the teens dodged her tackle, then munched up a pile of rocks Gobber had probably put there. The blacksmith in question began actually teaching. "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?!".
"A doctor?".
"Plus 5 speed?".
Astrid had the right answer. "A shield!".
"Yes! Shields! Go!".
The teens took off, dashing through the arena and scooping shields off the ground as Gobber began a short lecture. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!".
He hobbled over to Hiccup, who was- surprise, surprise- having trouble lifting his shield while holding his axe, scooping it into the boy's arms and sending him into the fray.
Ruff and Tuff were the only ones who hadn't grabbed shields. Unfortunately, there was only one with skulls on it. The twins both grabbed it and started fighting for it.
Tuff: "Get your hands off my shield!".
Ruff: "There are like a million shields!".
Tuff: "Take that one. It has a flower on it, girls like flowers.".
That comment earned him a shield bash over the head, Ruffnut smiling innocently. "Oops. Now this one has blood on it.".
This evidently made it more of a prize as Tuff grabbed it and the fighting started again... until the Gronckle, as annoyed as the teacher, students, and spectators, blasted the shield into oblivion, Ruff and Tuff spinning comically before dropping their spears and falling to the ground. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, yer out!".
"What?".
"What?".
The older Thorstons facepalmed again. "And there's the Thorston stupidity.".
Gobber dropped back into lecture mode. "Those shields are good for another thing! Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!".
The trainees began bashing their weapons on their shields. From the Gronckle's perspective, vibrations rippled around each teen, making it impossible to know where they actually were.
Jardar joined in the lecture. "Each dragon has a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronckle have?".
Snotlout called out, "Five?".
Fishlegs held up his shield arm. "No, six!".
"Correct, Fishlegs! One for each of you!".
Completely oblivious to the Gronckle aiming her maw at him Fishlegs held up his shield arm again. "I really don't-" The Gronckle blasted his shield off his arm. "Ahhh!".
"Fishlegs, out!".
Screaming in terror, Fishlegs dropped his hammer and ran for it, exposing Hiccup, cowering behind a wooden shelter that was there for some reason, to Gobber's view. "Hiccup, get in there!".
Hiccup began moving out of his shelter before another lava blast blew up the wall beside his head, forcing him to retreat again.
The Gronckle spun midair, searching for more targets, and spotted Astrid just as Snotlout walked up behind her and began flirting. "So, I just moved into my parent's basement. You should come by some time and work out! You look like you work out!".
As Astrid somersaulted away, Snotlout stupidly didn't notice the fireball now heading towards him until his shield exploded. "Snotlout! Yer done!".
...
Up in the stands, Himinn looked at Sasslout with astonishment. "Snotlout?".
Sasslout sighed. "Snotlout.".
Helen groaned. "Oi.".
The older twins facepalmed for the third time. "Oi.".
Jardar finished. "Oi.".
...
Astrid ended her somersault next to Hiccup. The scrawny boy looked sheepishly at her. "So, I guess it's just you and me, huh?".
Astrid looked at the Gronckle and her eyes widened. "Nope, just you.". She took off, allowing the Gronckle's blast to knock Hiccup's shield off his arm. "One shot left!".
Hiccup, for whatever reason decided to pursue his rolling shield, ending up trying to avoid the Gronckle and getting pinned at the wall. Himinn gasped. "HICCUP!".
The Gronckle opened her mouth to release her final shot as Hiccup braced himself for a firey demise.
The demise didn't come. Himinn jumped down into the ring and snagged Disembowler on one of the Gronckle's fangs, dragging her head to the side and redirecting the blast before Gobber grabbed onto the Gronckle and wrangled her back into her cage. "Ah, go back ta bed, ya overgrown sausage!".
Gobber glared at the other teens as they clustered together. "Remember. A dragon will always, always...".
He bent down to stare Hiccup in the eye. "...go for the kill.".
He hauled the boy to his feet and hobbled off. Hiccup stared at the still smouldering scorch mark on the wall. The only thing on his mind was one specific question.
Then why didn't you?
...
Again, sorry this took forever. I'm posting this as chapter 4 just to get it some attention and then I'll delete the incomplete version. Hopefully you enjoyed the added commentary. Feel free to ask any-sorry, all questions you may have. Seriously, ask all your questions.
In other news, I should be able to finish my take on Gift of the Night Fury pretty soon. I've altered the existing chapters to compensate for a new change in the Lightning and Night timeline. Please read it!
And... yep, that's it. Stay tuned for next time!
Next chapter: Better than Yobbish's Book.
