I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON CHARACTERS, but I do own mine. Here is the next chapter. Please read and leave me a review on what you thought.

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Snowbeam12

Next Chapter In Life

Chapter 4

Hiccup stood in the center of the training arena, looking around at everyone had gathered. He raised his hands to silence everyone's talking and cheering. The five children stood tall as Hiccup walked over to each of them.

"These five children have been chosen to train for the chance to join the Dragon Riders, the protectors of our village. Sylvia Haddock, Chance Warren, Opal Warren, Hunter Rider, Jane Granger, do you promise to train hard and work to become one of the sacred riders to protect our home?" Hiccup questioned, looking down at them. He smiled when they hall nodded. He stepped away from them, and walked towards each cage.

"As it is custom, each child will have four dragons to choose from. The dragons chosen for this ceremony are the following. A night fury, a deadly Nadder, a Gronkle and a Razorwhip. Each child will get a chance to get close to each dragon one at a time. When a dragon is chosen the child will name it than they will receive their class pin. A sharp class, a tracker class, a strike class or a boulder class." Hiccup announced. As everyone cheered he turned to Fishlegs who stood by the first door.

"Hunter, you will be the first to choose. Heather will you please escort the others out of the arena." Hiccup requested. Hiccup glanced at Fishlegs and nodded, signaling for him to open the first door. The black night fury stepped out, her scales shinning in the sunlight. Hunter stood there frozen as the dragon stepped closer to sniff him. Hiccup stood back with his arms crossed watching. His parents stood back watching as their son held out his arm, turning his head. The night fury only sniffed it before she retreated into her cage. Hiccup watched as the same happened with the Nadder and the Razorwhip. Hunter looked ready to cry when they released the Gronkle. The orange dragon instantly ran over to him, tackling the small boy. Hiccup couldn't help but laugh as he watched the boy try and push the dragon off him.

"Hunter, this Gronkle will be yours to learn to take care of. You may leave the arena. Liam will show you to your dragon's new pin where you will name him and work on earning his trust." Hiccup explained. It continued with the next three. Opal and Chance both ended up being chosen by a deadly Nadder while Jane quickly made friends with the Razorwhip.

"Last of this years' chosen riders is Sylvia Haddock." Hiccup announced. His daughter stepped out and looked around. She was clearly terrified as she stood there. He walked over and gently touched her shoulder.

"It's gonna be ok." He whispered, kneeling in front of her. Her green eyes were wide as she managed a nod. Hiccup stepped back and walked back over to his spot and nodded for Hiccup to open the door to the Gronkle. As each of the four dragons turned away from her he could tell she was beginning to get discouraged. He moved to take a step towards her when green gas suddenly filled the arena. Everyone began to panic as an angered Zippleback flew over the arena. Heather quickly climbed on Windshear's back, flying towards the creature. Her eyes widened when she saw the cuts that covered the dragon. She flew towards it, trying to get the attention of either of the heads.

"Shhh. It's ok." Heather soothed, raising her hands. Shimmer flew up beside her, giving a warning roar as Heather tried to get the dragon calmed. Once the dragons had landed she turned to Shimmer.

"Get this gas cleared!" She ordered to the albino night fury. Shimmer quickly bet her wings, creating a strong gust of wind clearing the gas. Toothless was curled around Hiccup, his wings covering the young chief. Fishlegs had ducked behind Meatlug. Heather looked around in panic for Sylvia, her eyes going wide when she saw a beautiful black and purple night fury curled up tight in the center of the arena. Hiccup stood up and slowly walked over to the night fury, raising his hands up to show that he meant no harm. The female dragon slowly uncurled, reviling a terrified but unharmed Sylvia.

"It seems you have a dragon." Hiccup teased as he helped her up. She looked at the night fury who was watching her with big, curious purple eyes. Once everyone had calmed down and taken their seats again he called the other four children and dragons back into the arena. He stood before them holding their class pins.

"As I give each of you a pin I want you to understand this is an honor and a privilege. You were chosen for the chance to train as a rider. If I feel like you are misusing that, I will not hesitate to have you removed from the class." Hiccup stated, giving each of them a pointed look. The five children nodded and watched as the four mentors stepped forward. He handed Liam the two Nadder pins before he looked at Opal and Chance.

"Liam will train you and be your mentor. He will teach you to be a friend and a companion to your dragons." Hiccup stated. Heather smiled taking the sharp class pin from Hiccup and stepped in front of Jane, pinning the pin to her shirt. Hiccup glanced at Fishlegs and smirked. Fishlegs had offered to stay and train any Gronkle riders. He watched as the Berkian stepped in front of Hunter.

"Hunter, while I understand Fishlegs is not an official Dragon Rider or a Dragon Island Protector he knows more about Gronkles than I could ever hope to know. He will be a good mentor to you and I will personally teach you the ways of a rider." Hiccup explained. He turned to his daughter, holding the striker class pin. He took a deep breath before he knelt in front of her pinning the pin on her shirt.

"Sylvia…I will be training you in the ways of a rider and a protector." He stated. His five-year-old nodded, a grin plastered on her face as she ran her hand along the night fury's side. Hiccup smiled and released them under Liam's care before he turned to Heather.

"What happened with the Zippleback?" he demanded. Heather glanced at the Zippleback that was curled up in a cage while Chase looked him over.

"It had cuts all over its body. It was probably scared and its fight or flight instincts were on high." She explained. Hiccup nodded and walked over to it, kneeling beside it, running his hands over the cuts. He frowned, sighing.

"These are hunter marks." He whispered, standing back up. He glanced over at the entrance and saw Sylvia standing there with her night fury. She had a hopeful look on her face. He sighed a tiny bit, walking over to her.

"Sylvia…Liam is going to work with you for right now. I have something I need to handle." He explained. He kissed her forehead before he climbed on Toothless' back before he went to search the south beach. Heather followed him, watching for any signs of hunters or anything suspicious. Toothless was the first to spot the ships that had docked on the island. He motioned to Heather to land just inside the tree lines where they wouldn't be seen.

"I don't understand. That symbol…it's the same one as the ships we fought years ago. I thought Asa and you sank those ships?" Heather questioned.

"I didn't. They knocked me out of the sky and I hit the ground and was knocked out. When I came to Asa said they were taken care of." Hiccup explained. Heather frowned and nodded as she crept closer. She watched as the men walked around the beach, unloading different equipment. He was concentrating on how many traps they had when Heather suddenly started to shake his arm, trying to get his attention. He glanced at her and followed her line of sight. He glanced at her Heather silently, frowning.

"This isn't good." He muttered softly. There were at least a dozen hunters and they had a just pulled a red Gronkle out of the woods. Hiccup slowly pulled his sword from his leg, ready to attack. He growled as they moved to try and drag the dragon into the cage.

"Hiccup we have to do something!" Heather whispered, clearly angered.

"We can't take all of them on with just the two of us." He answered. Hiccup softly whistled for Toothless. The black dragon carefully and slowly eased himself over to his rider, covering them with his black wings. Heather and Hiccup carefully climbed on his back, careful not to let the hunters know they were there.

"Let's get back to the village bud." Hiccup ordered. Toothless let out a small growl and began to walk until he was far enough away to fly. When they got back to the village Hiccup glanced around, looking for his father. Stoick was standing beside Astrid and Fishlegs, clearly talking about something. Hiccup climbed off Toothless' back and walked over to them.

"Have you guys seen Liam? There is something important I have to speak with him about." He stated, crossing his arms. Stoick frowned and shook his head, watching as his son turned and stalked off. It was clear that there was something bothering him. Astrid chased after him, taking his hand once she'd caught up. He stopped and looked down at her.

"Can we talk for a second?" she questioned softly. He raised an eyebrow when she glanced away blushing.

"Now really isn't a good time Astrid. I have to find Liam." He stated, trying to pull away. He gasped when she suddenly dragged him behind one of the huts. He looked down at her confused as she stood in front of him.

"Hiccup Haddock will you listen?!" she demanded, glaring up at him. He sighed, leaning against the wall of the hut.

"Fine. What is it?" he questioned. She opened her mouth to say something when Liam suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Heather said you were looking for me?" Liam stated, sparing Astrid a small look. She gave him an annoyed look as she stood there with her arms crossed. Hiccup gave her an apologetic look before turning to his second in command.

"Yes. I was. There is a large group of hunters on the south beach. For now, I want you to keep an eye on them. Report back to me how many dragons capture. I won't let those hunters kill anymore dragons for their scales." Hiccups stated, completely serious instead of relaxed like he had been a second before. Liam frowned and nodded before he headed in the direction of the stables. Hiccup looked back at Astrid and sighed.

"I know you want to talk to me but…I have things I really need to get done." He stated softly. She frowned, going to object but just ended up hanging her head. Hiccup smiled a tiny bit and gently touched her arm.

"Why don't we go on a flight when it's dark and I've gotten Sylvia to bed? I'm sorry." He offered softly. When Astrid nodded he turned and walked to the Dining Hall. Sylvia was sitting down by herself, picking at her food. He frowned and walked over to her.

"What's wrong?" he questioned softly, kneeling beside her. She only shrugged, glancing at him. He could tell that something was bothering her but he didn't want to push her. She was the type of person who would open up and talk when she felt ready to. He sat beside her watching at she moved her food around on the plate. He went to open his mouth to say something when she pushed her plate away and stood up. She walked out of the dining hall, not even bothering to say anything on her way out.

"Seems like your perfect kid is turning against you." Snotlout sneered, standing behind him. Hiccup groaned, not wanting to deal with his cousin.

"Worried she might turn out like her mother? A ruthless hunter that you can't save?" Snotlout called after him as he went to leave. Hiccup slammed to a stop, his hands balling into fists. Snotlout smirked, watching him stand there, clearly angered.

"Do your people know? That their chief's whore was a dragon hunter?" Snotlout teased. Everyone stopped eating and talking, looking at their chief. Hiccup took several deep breaths, not wanting to start a fight in the middle of the dining hall. Heather and Liam had both just walked in, talking to each other. They stopped when they saw their angered chief. Hiccup pushed past them walking out.

"Heard she helped in killing off most of the nightfury breed!" Snotlout yelled, loud enough for Hiccup to hear outside. The young chief was seething with anger as he stood there, his nails digging into his skin. Snotlout was only trying to get a rise out of him. He refused to give him the pleasure of seeing him snap. His wife's past was no secret but it wasn't something he was proud of hearing. She had turned away from that and taken on the life of protecting dragons instead of harming them.

"Son is everything alright?" Stoick asked, placing his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. He jerked away from his father and took off running towards his house. He ignored the people that yelled his name, not caring as he slammed the door shut and slid to the floor. He felt like he couldn't breathe as he sat there, terrified. He laid his head back against the door, staring at the ceiling.

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SNOWBEAM12