Prodigy Chapter 3, a how to train your dragon fanfic

Chapter Three

Authors Note: So some stuff may seem extreme, but I want it to be somewhat realistic. As for the Hiccup and Astrid pairing, I do not see it happening with the way this chapter went. I have an idea for a pairing but, it will come much later.

"It's not your outside that he can't stand, its what's on the inside."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, it was not the first time that he had been yelled at in public. His father's voice was more an annoying pest than anything else. It no longer sent him scrambling to fix whatever it is he did, he no longer cared. But he slowly rolled out of the tree holding his arm to his ribs. As he landed on his feet, he took stock of his injures. Multiple burns, but nothing he hadn't experienced working in the forge, multiple cracked ribs, and a few scraps and cuts. Not bad for a dragon raid.

He made his way back to the center of town, where his Father waiting. Next to him stood his cousin Snotlout and his uncle Spitelout, and they all looked angry.

"It was YOU, who lead that wretched monster into our home! It was you who caused so much of this destruction just because you can't kill a dragon, you puny thoughtless child! You will never be like us!"

This was yelled at him by his uncle, and only a light flinch was felt from Hiccup, but this wasn't the first time he had been yelled at in public. However, the sharp slap that's sound radiated throughout the whole village, he was not prepared for. The pain in his ribs, and the shock of being slapped in front of others by his uncle caused him to hit the ground. The punches, slaps, and kicks given to him by the family were done in private, except of course Snotlout.

He laid there in shock, and his gaze unwillingly went to his Father, yet he simply glared at him. He slowly rose to his feet and began making his way back to his father's home, when he heard his father speak to him,

"It would be better if you didn't come home tonight, Snotlout and Spitelout are going to stay in your room because, of your mistake. " The look of indifference was evident on his face, and it still sent a small bout of pain through his chest. Hiccup said not a word but continued walking but this time in the direction of the forest. He was going to wait for everyone to go to sleep before going back to Gothi's hut. It wasn't the first time he had slept on her floor.

The first time he had slept on her floor, was the first time his Father had slapped him. It was during his 6th summer, he had been drawing on the table of the kitchen when his Father came stomping in the home and slammed the door. He startled and knocked over a bottle of ink he had gotten as s present from Gothi to help him practice his drawing and letters. The ink quickly spread across the table and onto the floor. Before he could stutter out his apology, the solid iron grip of his Father's hand on his arm and he knew it would leave another set of bruises on his bicep. As he stared down at the hand gripping his arm, he tuned out his father's screams as the spittle flew from his mouth onto his face.

SMACK!

Hiccup flew to the floor as his hand flew to his face, and blood dripped from his lips.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" his father screamed in his face.

"I..I..I.," Hiccup stuttered in shock. Kids his own age constantly tripped him, pushed him, and hit him when he walked by, but an adult had never really hit him until then. His Father's rough fingers grabbed his chin and pulled it close.

"Clean this up, and I don't want to see you in this room again." He hissed in his face, and roughly pushed him away again. Stoick stomped back outside, and Hiccup cried because of his Father for the last time.

That night, he fell from his window, and ran to Gothi's hut. When she answered the door, the pity in her gaze caused him to grow angry. Before he could start yelled, she smacked him gently on the head, and began to scribble on the floor and it said,

"Do not let your anger and pain cloud your judgment. I am not your enemy, and as such do not try to treat me as such. If you lash out at the people you care about, who will be left to stand by you?" He was too young to truly understand her words, but they would live on his memory for another day.

As he lay on the floor that night memories replaced his dreams.

Flashes of fire, a smile of a beautiful woman, the cracking of his broken leg, insults, his father's face sneering at him, and finally the scream of pain that radiated sharply through his mind causing him to awake in a cold sweat. He laid panting and quickly pushed the memory that threatened to break through back into its small box in the back of his mind. The sun was just beginning to rise but, he decided that it was time to go find the thing that he had shot down in the forest.

His ribs were wrapped in white cloth, but it wasn't anything he hadn't received in his training. He quickly climbed down the stairs of Gothi's hut and quickly hid behind the nearest house. Using the shadows created by the rising sun, he sprinted between houses in order to avoid being spotted. He finally reached the edge of the forest and made his way about 20 yards in before he stopped next to a dead hollow tree. His gaze swept the air as he was taught years ago by Asger, always be on guard, especially about the things you care about.

He grabbed the clothes tucked safely in the tree. He stripped the clothes he wore around the village to disguises his physique. He lost his fur vest in the fire the night before, but his light green tunic and light brown pants, which were barely held together by poor stitching were replaced by smooth dark brown well-made pants made for movement, and a dark green shirt missing the sleeves as it was made for quick movement. They were his training clothes and they were made with the purpose to blend into the forest around him. They were made for quick movements and made to last a long time. His clunky fur boots were placed alongside his clothes and his bare feet embraced the dirt. Asger never liked when he went without shoes, but he felt more connected to the world around him. His senses felt like they were heightened, and he moved with even greater speeds. The earth seemed to almost talk to him, when he embraced the forest.

Within the hollow lay many weapons that Asger used to train him, but none would match his own weapon, but that was in the forge as he constantly tried to improve it. So, he grabbed one of the small swords, that wasn't quite balanced in his hand, but was the closest he would come. He strapped this to his side and quickly began making his way through the thick trees. He knew those woods better than anyone else on the island, from hours of training with Asger. One of his favorite training exercise was sending Hiccup into the forest for days at a time with, in the beginning a weapon, but every time the size of the weapon decreased until he was left with only the clothes on his back. While he left thinner than when he entered depending on how long he was told to stay, he learned more and more about how to survive and about the woods and all that lived there every time he entered.

He walked another 30 yards before he came upon a large tree. It was the largest tree in the forest and he quickly began to climb. He moved through the tree with the grace of someone who had spent years learning the limbs of trees. He reached the top within minutes, with only a light sweat and his breathing only slightly panting due to the speed in which he climbed. He looked out on the tree and finally saw what he was looking for. A large section of the forest canopy was broken.
He quickly scaled back down the tree and headed West. Asger taught him how to tell both time and direction using the sky. He reached a small clearing and quickly hid behind a large rock. Tangled in ropes was a large, pitch black, sleek, Night Fury. The Unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself. His heart pounded but, this monster had tried to attack one of the two people he cared about. He couldn't let that happen again. He slowly walked towards the dragon laying on its side. His brain began to analyze the dragon. Sleek for speed, short legs for quick movements, large wings for long flights, but also for speed. This dragon was built for fluidity and speed. It was so dark its body seemed to represent the night sky itself.

Hiccup made his way to the front of its body and finally saw the face of the great Night Fury. His eyes were closed until he got to close, and they snapped open. Acid green eyes filled with fear stopped him cold. The memory he had pushed back for so long snapped into his mind.

In the summer of his 10th year, he had been traveling through the forest after another training session with Asger. They had just started hand to hand combat, and his speed and size were his greatest allies so far. He suddenly heard a howl of pain on the outskirts of the forest. He quickly made his way towards the sound and when he reached it, he was nearly sick. Standing just in the forest was Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and Astrid. They were standing around a creature that he recognized from the history books provided by Gothi. It was the offspring of Loki's child Fenrir, it was a black wolf. What it was doing in Berk, he did not know, but what they were doing to it was not right. They each held a different weapon in their hands, and only Fishlegs seemed slightly uncomfortable with what was going on. The wolf was clearly injured and continued to try to escape the circle of humans, but every time he got close, he was prodded back to the middle adding a new injury to his already bleeding hide. They laughed about how it was perfect practice for dragon hunting. In his shock, Hiccup stepped on a branch which snapped with a sound like thunder. All heads quickly snapped to Hiccup and Tuffnut quickly reached out and grabbed the scruff of his vest. He dragged him toward the group, and this is the conversation that ensued:

"Well if isn't Hiccup the Useless." Smirked Snotlout who prodded the swaying wolf back into the center, "What do you think you are doing spying on us?"

Hiccups only answer was, "You shouldn't do that, you are going to anger the god Loki. You shouldn't kill it; his wrath will be upon you." Yet his eyes never left the wolf.

All the children stiffened at this accusation, until Snotlout began to smirk once again.

"We won't kill the beast, you will, oh great hero. Then the wrath of Loki will be on your head." Hiccup began to struggle against the hold of Tuffnut but then Ruffnut grabbed him as well. His training with Asger had not prepared him for this. They roughly shoved his hands behind his back and shoved him forward.

"I won't, you can't make me!" he yelled and squirmed, trying to get out of their holds.

"Either you kill it, or watch us continue to hurt, the poor animal. Then after it finally dies, we can do the same thing to you." He said with a sick twisted smirk. Astrid shoved a sword in his hand and whispered into his ear, "Do it and show us what a true Viking looks like. Stop being so useless, be a man for once." She sneered as she shoved him into the middle of the circle. He stumbled to his knees, and the wolf turned and growled in his direction. They were separated by about 2 feet, but Hiccup could still clearly see the fear and pain in its eyes. The pain was evident in the way its body twitched, but the fear was evident in the snarl of its mouth. It didn't want to be here anymore than he did, and with the way it was dripping blood Hiccup knew it would die that day.

Jeers and shouts rang out around the circle, calls for blood. But all he could focus on was the wolf. He couldn't let him die at the hands of these…these monsters. He slowly rose to his feet and began walking towards the still snarling wolf. It was weak, but Hiccup was not ready for it to lunge forward. Its teeth latched onto his thigh and he screamed in pain as he collapsed to the ground. Blood gushed from between his teeth, but everyone continued to watch. No one moved but the wolf and Hiccup, who's arm came up and brought the sword into the back of the wolf. The wolf let go of his leg and whimpered and pain. His head fell into Hiccup's lap and he looked up. Their eyes met and Hiccup saw acceptance but, so much pain. Blood frothed from his mouth into his lap, as he heaved his last breath.

When Hiccup finally looked up and realized no one was around. They must have scattered at some point during the wolf's death. He slowly pushed the wolf's body off of himself and tried to rise. His leg collapsed as he once more screamed in pain. He ripped off part of his shirt and tied up his leg, like Gothi had taught him. He lay next to the dead body of the wolf for what seemed like hours as he called out for help. Finally, footsteps were heard and then he saw Asger running towards him. He scooped him up and the last thing he remembered was the cries of pain from the wolf and its eyes that seemed to stare into his soul.

He stumbled as though he had been punched. He landed in front of the dragon who was still staring at him. He knew what he had to do. He wouldn't kill something that didn't know any better. Something that was just afraid and hurt.

He slowly walked toward the dragon and it still did not try to move. He reached the middle of the beast and threw his sword behind him. He didn't need it; his daggers would work better. He pulled one out and began sawing at the ropes. As the third rope snapped, he was shoved onto his back with a large paw on his chest. The dragon stared down on him and roared. Spittle flew from its mouth and it glared down on him with fierce eyes and he didn't know if this would be his last day, all for being weak like his father always said.