Chapter 3: Dragon Training Day One
I'll admit, although crossovers don't get as many reviews as the normal ones, I always look forward to getting one or two on this story. If you would like to comment on the plot, and its changes, you can leave a review if you want.
It had taken nearly all day, but Snivels had somehow managed to drag Hiccup all the way back to his house. It was true, Hiccup didn't really weigh that much, but with Snivels being the size he was, it felt like Hiccup weighed nearly as much as a Graveler. I guess it could be worse, Snivels thought to himself, At least I didn't have to drag Stoick. That would have been like trying to drag a Snorlax around, which was extremely difficult to do.
He tried to wake up his trainer. "Hiccup, come on wake up! We're at your house, come on! Wake up!" But Hiccup stayed unconscious. Snivels then leaned in really close, and screamed in his ear, "HICCUP!"
That did it. Hiccup awoke with a start. "Snivels? What's going on? Where are we?"
Snivels pointed at the Haddock's house. "We're back home," he said.
Hiccup looked at Snivels. "How did we get here?" he asked.
"I had to drag you all the way over here," Snivels said.
"By yourself?" Hiccup asked, astounded. When Snivels nodded, he sighed. "We'll talk about this later. I have to get up to my room before Dad notices I'm gone."
Moving quietly, Hiccup and Snivels sneaked in through the back door. Both Stoick and Beartic were crouched over the fire, their backs to the two misfits. Opening and closing the door quietly, Hiccup quickly made his way toward the stairs, with Snivels riding on his shoulder. Hiccup had just started climbing up the stairs when Stoick suddenly said, "Hiccup."
Hiccup froze and replied, "Dad! ...Uh, I need to talk to you, Dad." Stoick turned to face his son, rubbing his hands together. "I need to speak with you too, son."
They both took a deep breath and spoke, unfortunately at the exact same time. "I think it's time you learn to fight dragons." "I don't want to learn to fight dragons." They both looked at each other with confusion and said, "What?" Snivels said nothing, silenced by Beartic's glare.
Stoick looked awkwardly at Hiccup. "You go first," he said.
Hiccup shook his head. "No, you go first," he insisted as he climbed back down the stairs. Snivels shook his head, trying to tell Hiccup that wasn't a good idea. But Hiccup paid no attention to Snivels.
Stoick sighed. "You get your wish," he said, "Dragon training. You and your Snivy start in the morning."
Hearing this, Hiccup grew very alarmed. "Oh man, I should have gone first," he said, "Because, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings. But do we have enough...bread-making Vikings? Or small, home repair, Vikings?..."
He was interrupted by Snivels. "I believe what he's trying to say is that..."
But Stoick interrupted him by giving Hiccup an axe and telling him, "You'll need this."
Trying desperately not to drop the heavy axe, Hiccup finally said, "I don't want to fight dragons."
Thinking that Hiccup was joking, Stoick laughed. "Come on! Yes, you do!" he said.
Hiccup sighed. "Rephrase," he said, "Dad, I can't kill dragons!"
Stoick shook his head, still laughing. "But you will kill dragons," he said.
"No, I'm pretty extra-sure that I won't!" Hiccup nearly yelled. Snivels could sense the fear in Hiccup's voice. He was getting really desperate.
Stoick's expression grew suddenly grim. "It's time, Hiccup."
"Can you not hear me?!" Hiccup asked, his voice breaking with fear.
"He has a point," Snivels finally spoke up, "Not everyone is meant to do certain things, especially if they're not good at it. I mean, do you really think that it's a good idea to send us into...?"
"This is serious." Stoick interrupted. Snivels immediately stopped talking and jumped down onto the floor. Stoick took the axe from Hiccup. "When you carry this axe," he said, "You carry all of us with you." He handed the axe back to Hiccup. "That means you walk like us," he paused before adjusting Hiccup's posture, "You talk like us, you think like us. No more of...this." He gestured to his son.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and said, "You just gestured to all of me."
Stoick's expression didn't change. "Deal?" he asked.
"This conversation is feeling very one-sided," Hiccup complained.
"Deal?!" Stoick asked again, more harshly.
Hiccup sighed, and then said reluctantly, "Deal." He knew that he would later regret it.
But Stoick was satisfied. He swung a basket onto his shoulder and muttered, "Good." He reached for his helmet, which Beartic handed to him. "Train hard," he said as he and Beartic headed for the door. "We'll be back...probably."
"And we'll be here...maybe." Hiccup said. Snivels climbed back up onto his shoulder as Stoick and Beartic exited. The Freezing stopped suddenly and turned around, glaring at Snivels.
The Snivy shrank down in fear. "Okay, that's not really installing a lot of confidence," he said.
Beartic just grunted as Stoick shut the door.
The next morning, Gobber and the teens, as well as their Pokémon, stood at the entrance to the training arena. Gobber pushed the iron gate upwards, allowing it to slide easily out of his way. "Welcome to dragon training!" he called in a jolly voice, allowing the trainees to walk past him into the arena. "No turning back," Astrid murmured as she and Blaze led the way for the others.
The teens and their Pokémon found themselves gazing in wonder at the immense, chain-linked net that covered the arena, preventing the caged dragons that were used in training from flying away.
"I hope I get some serious burns!" said Tuffnut with his characteristic sadistic grin.
"I'm hoping for some mauling...like on my shoulders or lower back," his sister Ruffnut piled on.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," agreed Astrid.
"Yeah, no kidding right?" Hiccup said from the back of the group, making everyone turn to look at him. "Pain...love it!"
There were a few groans. "Who let him in?" asked Tuffnut exasperatedly.
"Let's get started!" shouted Gobber, pulling the gate back down, sealing them all in. "The recruits who do best," he continued, "Will win the honor of killing their first dragons in front of the entire village."
Snotlout sneered, "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him?" The twins both burst out laughing. Hiccup did his best to ignore them.
The teens all lined up in front of the cages. Hiccup and Snivels ended up being next to Fishlegs and Lombre. "Behind these doors," lectured Gobber, "Are just a few of the many species you'll learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder and Flygon..."
To which Fishlegs muttered "Armor: 16, Pokémon weak to Ice-Types."
"...The Hideous Zippleback and the Zweilous..."
"Plus 11 stealth times 2, Pokémon immune to Psychic-Types."
"...The Monstrous Nightmare and the Salamence..."
"Firepower: 15, Pokémon immune to Ground-Types."
"...The Terrible Terror..."
"Attack: 8, Venom: 12!"
"Can you stop that?!" Gobber shouted before concluding, "And the Gronckle and Sliggoo."
"Jaw Strength: 8, Pokémon hard to grip," Fishlegs muttered.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Snotlout said. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?!"
Gobber smirked and adjusted his grip on the lever. "I believe in learning on the job," he snickered, before pushing down on the lever.
A Gronckle burst from out of the cage, snarling and flying around at high speed, a Sliggoo riding on its back. Everyone scattered as the dragon bumbled around clumsily. "Today's lesson is about survival," Gobber shouted over the sudden din. "If you get blasted" – he paused as the Gronckle, unable to turn in time, slammed into a wall – "You're dead! Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"
Hiccup shouted sarcastically, "A doctor?" Fishlegs worriedly guessed, "Plus 5 speed?" Astrid, naturally, got the correct answer. "A shield!" she shouted, to which Gobber directed the teens and Pokémon towards the rack bearing the various shields.
"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield," Gobber instructed. "If you have to make a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield!"
Naturally, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Nidorino, and Nidorina began fighting over a shield that they wanted. Nidorino and his sister gripped the shield in their teeth, trying to help their trainers pull it out of the other's grasp. "Take that one," suggested Tuff. "It's got a flower on it. Girls like flowers."
His sister suddenly tore the shield from his grasp and with help from Nidorina, slammed it on top of his head. "Oops," she said with mock regret. "Now this one has blood on it."
None of them noticed that the Gronckle was zeroing in on them until it was too late. It shot a fireball that exploded against the shield, throwing them to the ground. The Sliggoo on the Gronckle's back then hit Nidorino and Nidorina with Dragon Breath. "Tuffnut! Ruffnut! Nidorino! Nidorina! You're all out!" Gobber yelled as they got up in a daze.
"Those shields are good for another thing," he continued. "Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!" Everyone simultaneously began to bash their weapons against their shields, the sudden noise causing the Gronckle to shake its head in confusion.
"Now," Gobber kept up the talk while the teens and their Pokémon avoided the Gronckle. "Every dragon has a limited number of shots. How many do a Gronckle and a Sliggoo have all together?"
"15?" Snotlout guessed. "No, 26!" Fishlegs shouted. Gobber nodded. "Correct, 26. That's 6 for the Gronckle and 20 for the Sliggoo."
The Gronckle fired another fireball, which crashed into Fishlegs's shield, shattering it. Immediately after, Sliggoo hit the exposed Lombre with Dragon Breath, paralyzing it instantly. "Fishlegs, Lombre, out!" Gobber called as Fishlegs grabbed Lombre and made a run for it. "Of course, Dragon Breath can paralyze the opponent!" Fishlegs said as he ran for cover.
Hiccup was hiding behind the shield rack, Snivels perched on his shoulder. "Hiccup, get in there!" Gobber demanded. Hiccup was about to get out when another fireball from the Gronckle hit the wall inches from him and Snivels. Hiccup dove back into his hiding spot without hesitation.
After making sure that the Gronckle's attention was focused elsewhere, Hiccup cautiously crawled out into the open. As he did so, the Gronckle fired another blast at a distracted Snotlout and blew his shield to bits, exposing Magmar, who was blasted with Dragon Breath. "Snotlout! Magmar! You're both done!" called Gobber.
Astrid and Blaze had both dodged the blast, and they both found themselves next to Hiccup and Snivels. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" Hiccup asked.
Too late, Astrid's eyes widen and she replied, "Nope. Just you!" She and Blaze quickly ran away, and before he could do anything to stop it, the Gronckle blasted Hiccup's shield, knocking it out of his hand. The force of the shot also caused Snivels to fall off of Hiccup's shoulder and onto the rock-hard ground.
"One shot left!" cried Gobber as Hiccup ran after his smoking shield. He could hear the Gronckle's thrumming wings as it and the Sliggoo closed in on him. Veering to the side, it blocked his way, separating him from the shield and chasing him towards a wall. The Sliggoo somehow slid off of the Gronckle's back and landed nearby.
The Gronckle easily pinned Hiccup against the wall. Hovering on the spot, it opened its mouth to blast Hiccup with its last shot, and he braced himself...
...Only to hear the deafening boom of the fireball hitting the wall next to him. Hiccup opened his eyes and saw two green vines wrapped around the Gronckle's ears. The Gronckle turned to see Snivels, using Vine Whip to grip its ears. He had used it to pull the Gronckle's head upwards, making it miss its mark.
The triumphant feeling Snivels felt did not last very long. The Gronckle swung its head around, lifting Snivels off of the ground and slamming him into the wall. The vines immediately released their grip around the Gronckle's ears as Snivels slid down the wall, and slumped to the ground, the vines lying limply beside him.
"Are you okay, Snivels?" Hiccup called out.
In response, Snivels tried to push himself up, but he ended up slumping back to the ground. "No," he replied.
The Gronckle growled at Snivels, but was stopped by the Sliggoo. "Sliggoo, Sliggoo, Sligg, Sliggoo!" it said. The Gronckle nodded and then hovered back into its cage, grabbing the Sliggoo expertly in its claws while doing so. "That's right," Gobber said as he chased them in, "Go back to bed you overgrown sausage and snail!"
Gobber locked the door and muttered, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." Then, turning to the teens and their partners, he wrapped up his lesson. "Remember, a dragon will always...always..."
He hoisted Hiccup up by the arm and finished in a deadly whisper, "...go for the kill."
As Gobber and the others walked out of the arena, Hiccup remembered something about the Night Fury he had freed in the woods.
Crouching over the remains of the ropes that had once trapped the Night Fury, Hiccup murmured, "So why didn't you?" Getting up again, he squinted through the trees, recalling the sight of the Night Fury escaping in that very same direction. Snivels was standing nearby, looking at the ropes.
Hiccup made the decision to see where the dragon had gotten to. He walked deeper into the forest, trying to figure out the path the dragon might have taken. Surprisingly, he noticed that it had left a clear path behind – when he looked closely, several trees looked like they had been damaged.
The pattern continued on in a mostly straight direction, so he followed it. Briefly, he wondered why a dragon would fly into so many trees when it could have avoided them.
The journey ended at what looked like a solid rock wall that was about ten feet high. Seeing a rather large crack in the side of it, Hiccup ducked through and traversed the short tunnel that the crack had formed.
The sight that met his eyes then was stunning. He was standing on a small cliff overlooking a huge crater-like structure at least twenty feet deep. On the other side was a gigantic tree whose roots dangled over the edge and right down to the ground. The peaceful scene was complete with singing birds and the presence of a clear lake dominating the bottom of the gorge.
The Night Fury was nowhere in sight. "This was stupid," he sighed to himself. That's when he saw something glinting in the sunlight. He looked down and saw several flat, black objects rather like river stones. He picked one up, feeling the smooth, shiny surface under his fingers.
Wait, these are scales, aren't they? he wondered. He peered harder at the object in his hand. He hadn't seen a dragon scale by itself up close before, so he wasn't entirely sure.
All at once, there was a scream and a huge black shadow that came shooting up from the below. Hiccup instinctively fell back, watching as the shadow passed by, heading for the rim of the crater. Looking straight up, he saw the Night Fury practically right next to him, scrabbling with its claws at the stone that made up the walls of the gorge.
Failing in its attempt to climb up, the Night Fury quickly glided away on silent wings, only to crash-land on the banks of the lake. Apparently frustrated, it tried again at a different location, only to get the same result – failure.
An inspiration struck Hiccup. He dug out his little notebook and piece of charcoal and quickly sketched a drawing of the Night Fury, noting the position of its fins and its general body shape.
"Why don't you just...fly away?" he quietly asked it, as if it could hear. As it spat a blue bolt of flame at the ground in anger, Hiccup noticed that the tail was missing one of its fins. That, he guessed, was the source of the dragon's inability to fly properly. He unconsciously smudged out one of the tail fins he had drawn.
"A Night Fury needs its tail fins to steer," came a voice. Hiccup turned to the entrance of the cove to see Snivels standing there. Snivels expertly jumped down onto the rock that Hiccup was on. "If a Night Fury loses one or both of its tail fins, it can't steer," Snivels explained, "And if it can't steer, it can't fly properly."
True to that fact, the Night Fury tried again, only to crash even harder. From their vantage point, Hiccup and Snivels saw it go limp, as if it were giving up. Then they watched as it crept to the edge of the lake and thrust its head in. Is it catching fish, maybe? Hiccup asked himself. If it was, that effort was fruitless as well.
Hiccup was totally fascinated by this mysterious creature, so fascinated that he let his grip on the charcoal loosen. Too late, he fumbled for it, only to see the stick fall with a clatter onto the rocks below.
Instinctively, Hiccup and Snivels shot nervous glances at the Night Fury, only to see its vivid green eyes staring right back at them. They paused. Was that a hint of recognition that they saw deep in those orbs?
With a tiny jolt, the dragon tilted its head ever so slightly. It seemed to share their curiosity. At that moment, a single thought crept through Hiccup's mind.
Are dragons really just pests to be killed? Or are they something more?
So, Snivels is able to use the move Vine Whip, and he used it to save his trainer. Is he really as inexperienced as everyone thinks he is? Also, in case you guys haven't noticed, Snivels obviously likes riding on Hiccup's shoulder.
And if any of you were wondering, the Sliggoo was telling the Gronckle not to attack. Please review, follow, or favorite!