Deciding it was time to go, Hiccup made his way back out, pulling up the rope after he was back up to, hiding it inside a hallowed out tree, before making it back home to drop off his things before heading to dinner.
"Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Hiccup heard Gobber over the roar of thunder and rain that was coming down on him as he entered the great hall.
"I miss timed my summer-salt dive," Astrid answered almost in monotone "It was sloppy, it threw off my reverse tumble."
"Yeah we noticed," Ruffnut said as if not caring.
"No no you were great. No that was so Astrid..." Snotlout said taking Astrid's hand and patting it in sympathy which she quickly shook off.
"She's right you have to be tough on yourselves," Gobber said proud of the Hoffersion girl.
All the while Hiccup was making his way over to the tables where they were sitting hoping he'd make it without being noticed until...
"Where did Hiccup go wrong?" Gobber asked.
"He showed up?" Ruffnut suggested.
"He didn't get eaten?" Tuffnut said sadness in his voice.
"He's never where he should be..." Astrid said having the last word as Hiccup went to the next table and sat down.
"Thank you Astrid," Gobber said being grateful at least one of his students knew how to behave. "You need to live and breath this stuff," he said pulling out an old worn book and dropping it on the table.
"The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of..." he said looking around then to the roof hearing the thunder and the rain. "No attacks tonight. Study up." he said before walking away.
"Wait? You mean read?" Tuffnut asked shocked.
"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut asked looking almost disgusted.
"Why read words, when you can kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snoutlout complained.
"Oh I've read it like seven times," Fishlegs said excited "This this water type dragon that squirts boiling water at your face. And this other one that has a roar so loud that it can..."
"Yeah great there was a chance I was going to read that..." Tuffnut said stopping his friend.
"But now..." Ruff said dragging the word on a bit.
"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff," Snoutlout said before getting up and running away followed by everyone else but Astrid and Hiccup.
"So I guess we'll share?" Hiccup said cheerfully smiling kindly.
"Read it." she answered pushing the book towards him before leaving.
"All... all mine then?" he asked just to be sure "Well ok so I guess I'll see you..." 'SLAM' "Tomorrow..."
o0o
After drying off a bit more, and having dinner, Hiccup found a few candles and sat down to read the book.
"Dragon classifications, Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class," he began.
"Thunderdrum: This reclusive sea-dragon inhabits sea-caves and dark tide pools. When startled a Thunderdrum can produce a sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.
Timberjack: The dragon has razor sharm wings that it can use to slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.
Scauldren: Sprays scaludring hot water into the faces of it's victims. Extremely dangerous." 'CRASH!' a clap of thunder sounded making Hiccup jump and look around before returning to the book.
"Changewing: Even newly hatches dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight.
Gronkle, Zippbleback, The Skrill, Bonenabber... Burns it's victims buries it's victims, chokes it's victims, turns it victims inside out, Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. The Whispering Death..." finally getting to the dragon he wanted, Hiccup lent in a bit more.
"Boulder Class, incredibly strong, hunts from under ground," he began reading the notes. "Can shoot razor sharp spines at will from any part of it's body, has rotating teeth that can discard dirt and tree root like it's not even there. Weakness' Unknown."
Leaning back, Hiccup thought back to how the dragon reacted the day before when the light reflected off his dagger and on to it's body.
Taking his dagger out, Hiccup wondered even more and decided to visit the dragon again...
'CRASH!'
But maybe tomorrow...