Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon, or any of the associated characters. Anything you do not recognize is probably mine.
Summary: See previous chapters
CHAPTER FOUR
Natalya tried not to fume as she followed the other Vikings into the ring. She had baking to do! How did they expect her to fill all of her orders when the rest of the Tribe returned if her limbs were broken or she was otherwise injured from running around with dragons who didn't know (or didn't care) that they had to be careful when tussling with easily breakable humans, the way her flock did? What would the flock do if she didn't show up?
Most of them had been warned against other Vikings by their parents, but others had known no life outside of the Valley, and trusted Natalya. What if they grew worried and came looking for her, and assumed that all humans were as tolerant as she was?
Well, most of the Vikings were gone searching for the nest. Maybe she could sneak one of the Terrors back to run messages, reassure the flock and to help her cook, rather than waiting for the ovens to heat up. Or if she found a big enough cart, she could take her work to the valley after training, instead.
"I'm hoping for some serious burns."
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my lower back."
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
Astrid was getting better at sarcasm, and Natalya was hoping for the strength of will to stop her from trying to thump the twins, and was only stopped by the fact that she probably couldn't do so without getting beaten up herself. She jerked out of her planning when she heard Hiccup trudging in, somehow sounding even less enthusiastic than she was. "No kidding. Pain? Love it."
Tuffnut sighed. "Oh, great. Who let him in?
Gobber spoke over all of them, pretending not to have heard. "Alright, let's get started. The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing his very first dragon."
Natalya mentally cursed, planning to do the worst that she could. Actually, being hopeless enough to be thrown out of Dragon Training sounded like a pretty good idea…
Snotlout sneered. "Well, Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him?"
Natalya rolled her eyes, clutching her mother's old short-spear and wishing that she had her bow. Unfortunately for Natalya – and luckily for Snotlout – the dragon arena was too small for such a long-ranged weapon to be permitted. "Oh, shut up, Snotlout."
Snotlout ignored her. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"
Gobber ignored him, guiding Hiccup away and speaking him in a low voice as he formed the teens into a line. Glancing upward, Natalya barely managed not to curse when she spotted a single, distinctly-shaped cloud hovering far overhead. Perhaps ranting to Skyfire last night about not wanting to fight dragons and the probability of serious injury had not been such a good idea. Now it looked like her dragon had decided to hover around to make sure she was safe.
Swiftly turning her attention back to Gobber before anyone could ask what she was staring at, Natalya tried to focus. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder, the Hideous Zippleback, the Monstrous Nightmare, the Terrible Terror and – WILL YOU STOP THAT!"
The yell had been directed at Fishlegs, who had been rattling off Dragon statistics at each name. Fishlegs froze, but whispered to Hiccup as Gobber introduced the Gronkle, his hand on the lever that would open its cage. Snotlout wasn't exactly clever, but even he could guess what was going to happen next. "Wait, aren't you going to train us?"
Gobber ignored, or just didn't notice, the very obvious worry from all of the teens. "I believe in learning on the job."
Natalya swore loudly as the Gronkle burst out of the cage and the trainees scattered as Gobber blithely continued his instruction. "Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing ye'll need?"
Hiccup was clearly re-thinking his dream of fighting dragons. "A doctor?"
Fishlegs looked faintly hysterical. "Plus-five speed?"
Natalya dodged Snotlout, trying to find the fastest way to the exit, which was promptly blocked by Gobber. "A quick escape route?"
Astrid, as usual, had the right answer: "A shield!"
Natalya glared at her cousin, grabbing the nearest shield and throwing herself behind the weapons rack, taking cover until she had a better idea of what was going on. Hiccup was struggling to pick up a shield while holding onto his axe, while Astrid had grabbed a shield and was standing in a ready position. Someone needed to take the twins aside and tell them that when you are in immediate danger of being roasted by a dragon, it is not the time to fight over which twin gets which shield, especially since the shield was hit by a blast from the Gronkle, spinning both twins around and causing Gobber to call them out.
The remaining four were back in a more or less steady line as Gobber retrieved Natalya from her hiding place. "Those shields are good for another thing: noise. Make lots of it; it'll throw off a dragon's aim. Now, all dragons have a limited number of shots; how many does a Gronkle have?"
Hiccup had taken Natalya's place as soon as Gobber's back was turned, but Snotlout was still running as he shouted a guess, "Five?"
Fishlegs made the mistake of standing still to correct him. "No, no: six!"
Fishlegs was so pleased at knowing the right answer that he failed to notice the Gronkle coming up behind him until it blasted his shield to bits, causing Natalya to narrow her eyes in thought. So far, the Gronkle had only made two shots, despite ample opportunity, and Natalya had seen dragons fighting enough times to realize that the Gronkle was aiming for the shields, rather than the trainees themselves.
Lowering her shield down and to the side, just enough to show a lack of hostility, she beat a quick tattoo on the edge, drawing the dragon's attention while Gobber was focussing on the others. The Gronkle didn't try to blast her, but flew forward in a manuver that Natalya recognized from over-excited Terrible Terrors zooming in to greet her. Deliberately, she fell backwards to lessen the impact, the Gronkle nuzzling her for a few seconds before Snotlout actually tackled it, knocking the dragon away before he retreated back to Astrid. "Hey, did you see me? How cool a move was that?"
Smiling in relief and at Astrid's expression, Natalya retreated to where Fishlegs and the Twins were sitting, content to sit back and observe.
Snotlout was still trying – and failing miserably – to flirt with Astrid, and like Fishlegs, was so intent that he failed to notice the dragon until it was too late. Astrid rolled over to where Hiccup had been dragged out of hiding, and then darted away again as the Gronkle's next shot landed between them, and Natalya spotted a problem.
Hiccup did not have his father's size or build, but there were several unmistakable similarities, and the dragons had no love for Stoik the Vast. Astrid looked indignant when the Gronkle ignored her, despite clearly being the greater threat, and went after Hiccup, who did the sensible thing and bolted.
Natalya's best and only friend wasn't fast enough, though, and she scrambled to her feet again as the Gronkle backed Hiccup up against a wall, opening its mouth in preparation to flame the youth. Natalya darted forward, not even knowing what she could do, but Gobber got there first, yanking the Gronkle's jaw so that the fire missed Hiccup by inches.
Natalya collapsed in relief as Gobber dragged the Gronkle back, before Astrid dragged her back upright, hissing about being a 'family embarrassment'. Natalya returned a silent glare as Gobber closed the Gronkle's cage. "Remember, a dragon will always, ALWAYS, go for the kill."
Hiccup caught Natalya's eye as the trainees left the arena, walking in silence until they were far enough away from the village for Skyfire to join them. Hiccup felt a strange surge of almost longing as he watched his friend lean against the blue scales, eyes closed and smiling softly.
No-one had great expectations of Natalya, or commented about how sad a day it would be when she took over the tribe. If she felt lonely, she could just take to the skies on a dragon who clearly adored her. Maybe one day she could even just fly away and not return, and Hiccup would lay good money on her doing just that if anyone tried to make her actually kill a dragon.
Then what would he do?
He shook himself out of it. "Hey, Natalya?"
She looked up from where she had been crooning to the huge beast, as though it were a pet. Sure, Hiccup had known for a while that Natalya could fly a dragon, but he had never considered that they might share an actual bond. Hiccup tried to regain his train of thought. "Gobber said that dragons will always go for the kill," he ignored the raised eyebrow and pointed look at Skyfire, "I know, I know, but the Night Fury obviously saw me as an enemy, so why didn't it to more than roar?"
Natalya shrugged. "I have no idea." She placed one foot on the bent knee of Skyfire's left foreleg, swinging herself up onto the dragon's back. "I need to go hunting, do you want to come?"
After nearly being killed by the Gronkle only half an hour ago, Hiccup did not. He knew better than to actually say as such, though, and shook his head. "No, I think I'll go for a walk around, but I'll meet you back at your place before we have to meet Gobber for dinner.
Natalya nodded and patted her dragon on the neck, the backlash from Skyfire's wings nearly knocking Hiccup over. He walked past where his broken bolas lay on the ground, following in the direction that the Night Fury had disappeared.
Skyfire had brought down an elk, and lay in Natalya's backyard to eat her half, having cut the rest into pieces small enough for Natalya to manage as the young woman settled down to do her baking. She had taken to using a slow-rising dough, so that she could make it in the evening or morning, and have it double or triple in size when she woke or came back from Dragon Training. Then all she had to do was shape it into whatever she was cooking and put it in the oven.
Natalya had just finished placing the first loaves into the oven, a few Terrible Terrors shredding the meat off the bones, when Hiccup burst in, waving his notebook and so excited that he tripped over a stool. Natalya helped him up with the involuntary affectionate smile that always came out when Hiccup was around. "Careful."
Hiccup waved it off. "Never mind that! You'll never believe what I found!" He waved the notebook; open to a page with a drawing of a dragon that Natalya had never seen before. "I found the Night Fury!"
Half-way through flattening a ball of dough to make a stuffed bun, something her father had sworn by as a good on-the-go food, Natalya's hands stilled.
.
.
.
.
A/N: Yes, I know, it has been way too long since I updated this. 'Riders of Berk' gave me some of my inspiration back, so hopefully it won't be too long before the next chapter. You can thank CahillDragonRiderDemigodWitch for prompting me not to forget this fic. *waves*
Thanks,
Nat
