A/N: Second one done, I noticed I really have troubles if there's no action or drama in the chapter... I'm quite satisfied with this one nevertheless.

Thanks to Victoria62015 and "just me" for reviews, I believe that this chapter gives answers to your questions.

DISCLAIMER: Simple fact: HTTYD is not mine.


Chapter 2: Lesson

Everything was prepared and ready, and all she could do now was to wait. Fireworm walked in circles in her chamber; after two years of waiting she could hardly bear it any longer. The memories of flying with her human, or fishing, or overall doing anything with him made her heart burn in pain. She really didn't have a heart anymore, only ashes… the damned Night Fury had no idea what his lack of strength had forced her to go through.

But soon he will know. Fireworm chuckled for a moment, until her impatience caught the upper hand again.

.::Crystalspike! What is taking so long for your brother to come back!::. Fireworm roared so that the whole cave echoed from her voice.

A white-bluish figure, slightly larger than she was, emerged from the rocky, frozen cave wall. It, or more appropriately, she, crouched briefly in front of Fireworm. .::Your mercifulness, my brother needs time for his task, but I'm sure he won't disappoint you::., the creature answered swiftly in a low tone.

.::Better not::., Fireworm growled, her frustration leaking over the bounds now. Monstrous Nightmares were not created patience in mind. .::Get Doomgrip and your sister here, I need to make sure they understood their instructions.::. The dragon nodded firmly and dashed off. Prepare yourself, Toothless, soon you will pay for your treachery, and it will cost you dearly.


"Welcome to personal dragon training", Hiccup said as he opened the gates of the Arena for Acorn and Shadow. He flashed a smile at the couple and gestured towards the Arena. "Go ahead; I have lots of things to talk about."

Shadow walked in right behind the boy. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next but it had to be something exciting. Before he noticed, he was bouncing around the arena, sniffing stuff and causing stuff to break, by accident of course.

"Shadow. Shadow! Come on, take it easy", Acorn shouted desperately with amusement mixed in his voice. So much for making a good impression to Hiccup with his dragon-control skills. Shadow stopped on his tracks when he realized that he was embarrassing his human. He let his ears fall against his neck to show his regret and walked slowly to the boy.

"Alright, let's get started. You can sit down, this is gonna take a while." Shadow curled himself in a half-circle around Acorn, who leaned his back against Shadow's side and smiled. Then they both turned their attention to Hiccup.

"Okay, so you are now starting your personal dragon training. The difference to normal training is that while in the normal training you learn basic things about dragons, how different species look and behave, how to approach a wild dragon etc, here you learn how to trust your dragon and how to work as a team. Yeah, that means flying", Hiccup added when he saw the question forming on Acorn's face.

"But first things first. As a rider you should know few things: First, a dragon is not a horse, nor are you a master. Never forget that, or your dragon will make you remember."

"Don't worry, I won't forget that", Acorn assured after giving a quick glance at Shadow.

"Good", Hiccup sneered. "Second, you should know your dragon, not only as a representative of its breed but as an individual. But I have seen you playing with Shadow so many times that I believe you know him better than anyone in Berk besides Toothless, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Acorn raised his hand: "Dragon Mas…-Hiccup, I have a question."

"Go ahead", Hiccup said, delighted.

"I have never seen Shadow's mother, what happened to her? How she looked like? Why-"

"Whoa, one question at time, please." Hiccup cleared his thoughts for a moment. "That was a good question. I have to admit that I didn't see her many times, but from what I remember, she was sleek and agile, her scales were black with some dark gray strains here and there. Her eyes were lemon-yellow and she was a good meter longer than Toothless." After taking a short break Hiccup continued: "What comes to why she isn't here, well… you should understand that dragon families work differently to human families. Night Furies seems to prefer single parenting, the female leaving after laying the eggs. Then it's the male's responsibility to look after the hatchlings. Or at least that is how it went with Toothless. When the lady Fury appeared, Toothless disappeared in woods with her for few weeks. Then he came back, carrying an egg in his mouth. I never saw the other Night Fury again."

"I think I understand, but doesn't Shadow miss his mother?" Acorn asked. Shadow looked at him, looking a bit surprised. Why I'd need a mother when I have such a great dad? He thought.

His dad's human talked and talked, and just when Shadow thought that he had finished, he talked some more. Acorn looked interested and concentrated, but Shadow couldn't understand most of the words so it was all meaningless babbling to him. That meant he was getting tired, and the comfortable position in which he was lying and the boy's gentle hand that was rubbing his chin didn't help at all. Just when he was going to close his eyes something glittering caught his attention. It was just a reflection of something blue at the edge of the upper level balcony, but it vanished before Shadow was able to get a better look at it. He shrugged and let his head fall back on his forepaws.

After a time that felt like eternity the half-legged human finally stopped talking. Shadow opened his eyes slightly and yawned. He didn't expect the training to be like this, he had gained nothing from the hours Hiccup had used to explain some things. At least I was able to take a nap.

"Alright, this should do for now, you should go home to eat something now. Come to meet me at the forge afternoon, and we'll make a saddle for Shadow." Shadow immediately jerked his head up and stared at Hiccup, and so did Acorn with the exception that he jumped up instead of just raising his head. Hiccup almost laughed out loud at the sight of the surprised couple.

"Do you mean that we could fly this week?" Acorn asked with a disbelief in his voice. Shadow made the same question with his eyes.

"Yeah, I think it's good to start practicing early, just don't expect too much at the beginning, it's gonna be hard for both of you."

"Thanks a lot! I can hardly wait until afternoon!" Acorn jumped in joy. Shadow ducked his head under the boy so that he fell on his back, then he started running around the arena, carrying Acorn on his back. "See you soon!" Acorn waved at Hiccup when Shadow leaped out of the arena.

Shadow was so happy that he didn't notice the cold, blue eyes that were staring at him from the woods.


Huh, soon there will be something else that just dialogue, which mean faster writing for me :D Go ahead and leave your opinion in the form of review:)