Dragon Training

Dragon Training starts the next day after the fleet leaves. While I watch, silently praying that everyone will return unhurt, I catch Hiccup hugging her father out of the corner of my eye. Especially him, I think. I hope he doesn't die.

I run to the village to avoid looking like a stalker. She catches up to the rest of the group. She avoids my gaze the entire walk to the arena, but her face is a bit flushed.

Fishlegs is walking with her, talking animatedly about—what else?—Dragons. "I am so excited! I've already memorized the Book of Dragons! I'm so going to be the one to kill that Horrendous Nightmare!"

I barely suppress a laugh. Fishlegs—a slayer? If he's lucky, he'll get one Dragon's head. When I think about why he's so excited, I feel a surge of jealousy. Fishlegs is the only one who's nice to Hiccup, so maybe he likes her. She's a Viking girl, so she must be impressed by Dragon slayers.

I have to kill the Nightmare.

We arrive at the arena, where Gobber is waiting for us. He enthusiastically shouts, "Welcome t' Dragon Trainin'! Here, ye'll learn how t' defeat the Deadly Nadder—"

"Speed 8, armor 16-"Fishlegs says excitedly.

"Th' Hideous Zippleback,"

"-11 stealth-times 2-"

"Th' Monstrous Nightmare."

"-Fire-power 15-"

"Th' Terrible Terror."

"-Attack 8, venom 12-"

"Would ye stop that?" Gobber bellows at Fishlegs, shaking his head impatiently. "And th' Gronkle."

Fishlegs leans towards Hiccup and whispers something in her ear, and she whispers back. I feel a wave of jealousy wash over me.

Gobber starts to open the Gronkle's door, making Snotlout panic. "Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

Gobber grins, and out of the corner of my eye I see Hiccup cringe. Crap.

"I believe on learnin' on th' job," the crazy Viking says before lifting the log, freeing the Gronkle.

Everyone scatters. After a few seconds of us all running around, Gobber calls, "What's th' first thing ye' need when yer fightin' a Dragon?"

"A doctor?" Hiccup asks. I hope she won't need one.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs guesses. What the hell does that mean?

I know the answer. "A shield!" I dive to the shield rack, listening absentmindedly as the rest of the class follows.

Gobber continues with his lesson. "Yer shield is yer most important piece o' equipment. If ye have t' choose between a sword or a shield, take th' shield."

When my shield is strapped to my arm, I try to duck out of the Gronkle's field of vision. The twins are blasted, and Gobber cheerily tells them to get their asses out of the ring. He says, "Ev'ry Dragon has a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?"

Snotlout calls out, "Five!"

"No, six!" Fishlegs corrects proudly.

While Gobber praises Fishlegs, the Gronkle knocks the shield out of his hand. He runs, screaming, towards the door.

Gobber yells, "Hiccup, get in there!" I look to see her cowering behind her shield, and I want to throw my axe at her mentor. She starts to move towards Snotlout and me.

I roll away from the Gronkle and end up next to Snotlout. "I just moved into my parents' basement. You should come by and work out sometime. You look like you work ou—"

I move out of the way again just in time for Hiccup's cousin to get blasted. I repress the urge to laugh mockingly at him. When I stop moving, I'm next to Hiccup. "So…you and me, huh?" she asks uncertainly.

I regret what I'm about to do, but I need to win the honor of killing the Nightmare. "Nope, just you." I duck out of the way just in time for the Gronkle to blast Hiccup's shield out of her hands.

Gobber yells, "One shot left!" as Hiccup races after her shield. I'm too focused on myself to notice that the Gronkle is going after Hiccup again. She turns around too late, staring into the Gronkle's open mouth as it prepares to fire.

"Hiccup!" Gobber cries, rushing into the ring. He hooks his prosthetic hand in the Dragon's mouth, changing its aim just in time. The spot just above her head is smoldering, and some embers fall off. Gobber puts the Dragon back in the room, saying, "That's six! Go back to bed, ye overgrown sausage. Ye'll get yer chance again, don't ye worry."

I want to run to her and ask if she's alright, but I can't—not without arousing suspicion. So I merely listen quietly as Gobber says, "Remember, class. A Dragon will always go for the kill."

Hiccup's face goes beet red and she rushes from the arena, looking on the verge of tears.

()()

I'm disappointed when I don't see Hiccup in the Mead Hall that night. Worry gnaws at my stomach—storm clouds are rolling in. I hope she gets here soon.

I sit next to Snotlout and Tuffnut at the table with Gobber, the other two sitting on his sides. "Good evenin', Asher!" he bellows gruffly. "We're just reviewin' where we all wen' wrong t'day! Where did Asher go wrong?"

I hear the door to the Mead Hall creak closed and Hiccup walks in, drenched. I say, "I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

Tuffnut scoffs. "We noticed." I'm not paying attention, though. I'm watching Hiccup as she sits at the lone table next to the one we're occupying. She keeps fingering her notebook absentmindedly.

"It was so 'Asher' though!" Snotlout defends. I only barely stop myself from knocking his teeth out because Hiccup is in the room.

Gobber seems to be with me. "Ye've got t' be tough on yerselves! Now, where did Hiccup go wrong today?"

She cringes and sends a glare Gobber's way as Ruffnut says, "Uh, she showed up."

Tuffnut adds, "She didn't get eaten." I want to break his jaw,

I try to reassure her by saying, "She doesn't know what to do or where to be," coupled with what I hope is a friendly face. She sends a forced smile back.

As he speaks, Gobber slams a familiar book on the wooden table. "Thank you, Asher. Th' Dragon Manual! Ye need t' eat, breathe, and live this stuff."

I ignore the following conversation, instead watching Hiccup's face. It seems almost—numb, like something earth shattering had just occurred before she came tonight. I only break from my trance when I hear her gentle voice saying, "So, I guess we'll share?"

I can't be bothered right now, even if it is Hiccup. I push the book towards her and say, "Read it."

On my way out, I hear her sarcastically say, "Goodie. I have it all to myself."

()()

The next day we tackle the Deadly Nadder.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Hiccup is calmly talking to Gobber, even under attack from the Deadly Nadder. Fishlegs is clinging to her, riling up a surge of jealousy. Why was he closer to her than I was?

I'm ignoring everything else. I have to beat the Nadder. It might get Hiccup's attention! As the Nadder rears its ugly head towards her idiot cousin and me, Snotlout says, "I'll take care of this," and throws his hammer at the beast. It doesn't even come close, making the Dragon actually start laughing at the idiot.

I leap onto the wall and try to distract the Nadder. Just when it is just about to shoot a fireball my way, I hurl myself off the maze…landing right on Hiccup.

I ignore Fishlegs and Gobber's curious look as I barely register something soft under my right hand. My axe is caught in her shield, which is strapped to her arm. I ignore Tuffnut and Ruffnut making catcalls my way, as I don't understand why. I finally wrench the shield free of her arm and swing it at the Dragon, knocking it out.

"Is this a joke to you?" I demand of the small girl, still on the ground. She looks horrified, and when I look at her arms crossed over her chest and small tears in the corners of her eyes, I realize why. I offer my hand, apologizing. "Oh, I'm sorry—"

I hear Snotlout call, "How did you not notice? I mean, look at those jugs!" I want to punch his face in. How could he make such a lecherous comment about his own cousin? I bite back the urge to say that, yes, I know just how large her bust is. I had spent most of my teenage years mastering the art of starting at them without getting caught.

His right-hand man agrees. "Yeah. Compared to her, Ruffnut's a board!" I am spared the duty of knocking the male twin on his ass, as his sister has taken the honor.

Fishlegs has one of his rare, semi-cool moments. "Leave her alone, you assholes!" he orders, arms spread in front of Hiccup protectively. Hiccup doesn't deny his hand and he heaves her up, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. He sends a glare my way, and leads her up to where Gobber stands, also glaring at me.

()()

I wait a few hours to let Hiccup cool off before I try to approach her again. After I swing by her house, I go to the smith, but I'm dismayed to find that only Gobber is in the shop. I don't want to test his patience, but I have to know if Hiccup was there.

"Gobber, have you seen Hiccup?" I ask, casually leaning on the counter.

The old Viking stiffens when he hears my voice. "No, haven' seen 'er since Trainin'. I think she wen' t' th' forest after."

I growl. "Tell me the truth, Gobber. Why would Hiccup be in the forest? Just tell me where she is so I can apologize to her!"

He slams his hammer-hand on the counter a few centimeters away from my hands. "I'm tellin' ya, I don't know where she is!" Gobber yells, frustrated. "And, even if I did know, I wouldn't tell ya! What ya did…it hurt her feelings, ya know. If her dad finds out, yer a dead man."

"It was an accident!" I defend.

"It didn't hurt her that ya touched her, boy! It hurt that ya didn't notice!"

"Why are girls so complicated?" I groan, putting my head in my hands.

"Beats me."

()()

We all gather at the watch tower for dinner the next night, having had the day off due to the previous day's…event. Hiccup sat far away from the rest of us, and my jealousy flared when Fishlegs joined her.

Gobber begins to tell us a story about how he lost his arm and leg, making Hiccup slam her head into her table. I guess she's heard this story before.

"…an' that's when he took my arm! An' I could see the look on its face; I was delicious! He must've passed along th' word, 'cause it wasn't a month before another took my leg!" Gobber bellows before tearing a piece off his mystery meat of the day.

Fishlegs speculates, ""Isn't it weird to think that your arm is inside a Dragon? Like, if you still had control over it, you could kill it from the inside."

"Man, I am so angry right now," Snotlout interrupts in that annoying way of his. "I will avenge your beautiful arm and your beautiful leg! I'll cut off all the Dragons' legs—with my face!" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hiccup facepalm.

When Gobber speaks again, Hiccup's head whips around. "Nah, it's the wings ye gotta go for. If a Dragon can't fly, he can't get away. A downed Dragon is a dead Dragon."

She leaps from her seat, says goodbye to Fishlegs, and darts to the stairs.

Wow~ Such a long chapter! I was going to go longer, but I figured I'd better stop! In the next chapter: Asher tries to apologize to Hiccup, who is steadily getting much better at Dragon Training. See you soon!