Chapter 2b: Dragon Training

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber said as he opened the gate to the arena. "No turning back." Astrid said as she, Pippa, and the others walked in. The others look around curiously and in awe at the size of the arena. "I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut said in excitement. "I'm hoping for some mauling," Caleb said unimpressed. "Like on my shoulder or lower back." Pippa scoffed slightly at the remark. "Yeah," She said with a blank look. "It's only fun once you get a scar out of it."

"No kidding, right?" A familiar voice sounded out, making them all look back at the gate to see the Haddock twins. "Pain, love it." Jamie added as he and Hiccup walked into the ring, and inside himself Jamie was relieved that no one noticed the crystal around his neck. "Oh great," Claude said in disgust. "Who let them in?" Just as Jamie was going to retort back... "Let's get started!" Gobber interrupted as he knew that underneath the shy, weak shell Jamie had around him was a fiery warrior.

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury," Snotlout complained slightly to Gobber. "...so does that disqualify him or...?" The others laughed as they went to the center of the ring. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings...?" Tuffnut added to spite the brothers. "Don't worry," North said as he put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder but talked to both of them. "You're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll go after the more Viking-like teens instead." He pushed the duo to line up with the others before going to stand next to Gobber.

"Behind these doors," Gobber said as he gestured to the other gates behind North. We have just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. Here we have the Deadly Nadder-"

"Speed: 8. Armor: 16."

"The Hiddeous Zippleback."

"Eleven stealth - times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Fire power: 15."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack: 8. Venom: 12!"

"Would you two stop that?!" North shouted angrily and annoyed at Fislegs and Monty.

"And the Gronkle." Gobber finished as he put his hand on the lever next to the gate.

"Jaw-strength: 8." The brothers whispered to Hiccup and Jamie. "Whoa wait!" Cupcake said as she suddenly knew what Gobber was going to do. "Aren't you two going to teach us first?!" The two men had a mischievous smile on their faces that only Hiccup and Jamie knew what they were going to say next. "We believe in learning on the job." Then the lever was pulled down, and all hell broke loose.


A giant golden-brown bumblebee shaped dragon with small bumps, an oversized head, large stumpy legs, and small wings bursted out of the gate and made everyone scramble around. "Quick! What's the first thing you'll need?!" North asked as most of the class ran around trying to lose the Gronkle.

"A doctor?" Hiccup asked, making Jamie look at him curiously.

"Five plus speed?" Fislegs asked, being the know-it-all he is.

"A shield!" Astrid shouted.

"Right Astrid! A shield! When you have to choose between a sword and a shield, choose the shield." As North was saying this, he and Gobber were forcing a shield onto Hiccup and Jamie's arms.

Both pale-skinned and dark-skinned twins go for the same shield and soon have a round over it. "Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut shouted as he tried to get it out of Ruffnut, Claude, and Caleb's hands. "There are a million shields!" Ruffnut shouts back. "Take that one, it has flowers, girls like flowers." Claude taunted and caused Ruffnut to slam it on his head. "Oops, now this one has blood on it." Caleb teased as they continued fighting, but the Gronkle decided time was up.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut! Claude! Caleb! You're out!" Gobber shouted as the four looked at him in a daze. "Each dragon has a limited number of shots, how many shots does a Gronkle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout asked curiously. "No! Six!" Fishlegs and Monty shouted as they raised their shields. "Correct, six! One for half of you!" North answered as he watched the Gronkle destroy their shields. "Fishlegs! Monty! You're out!" The brothers ran in fear after the blast.

Hiding behind the stand with the weapons were Hiccup and Jamie... until North and Gobber noticed them. "HICCUP! JAMIE! GET IN THERE!" They shouted and that got the twins out from behind the stand as Astrid and Pippa stood next to Snotlout and Cupcake. "So I'm moving into our parents basement," Snotlout said as he tried to impress the older Hofferson sibling. "You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out-" BLAST!

"Snotlout! Cupcake! You're out!" North said as he watched the Jorgenson siblings' shields get blown to bits. Astrid and Pippa cartwheeled next to Hiccup and Jamie as they kept an eye on the Gronkle flying nearby. "So, I guess it's just you and us huh?" Hiccup asked nervously, making Jamie look at him curiously.

"Nope, just you." Pippa answered before they roll away from the Haddock twins as the Gronkle shot their shields off of their arms. Without knowing the danger, Hiccup and Jamie ran after their shields with the Gronkle after them! "Hiccup! Jamie!" Gobber shouted before the two were pinned to the wall by the dragon.

It opened its mouth, and just as it was a second away from blasting them... a hook was caught on the side of its mouth and made it shoot above the twins. "Go back to bed you overgrown sausage!" Gobber said as he forced the dragon back in its cage. "You'll get another chance! Don't you worry!"

As he was doing that, North turned towards the brothers. "Remember a dragon will always... always go for the kill."


"So why didn't you two?" Hiccup asked as he and Jamie went back to the spot where Hiccup freed the downed Night Fury. They looked at the trail of broken trees that the Night Fury created and followed that until they came across a cove with a small pond, a few trees, and a small cavern at the back.

They looked at it in awe until Hiccup noticed the black scales and sat down to pick one up. Jamie kneeled next to him to take a close look at it... until a black shape nearly gave them a heart attack. They cautiously looked through the opening to see the Night Fury scrabbling the rock wall before sailing down to the ground where the Frost Fury, Jack, was waiting patiently.

The twins moved to a rock that was in the cove but was high enough for the dragons to not see them. Hiccup pulled out his book and started sketching the Night Fury, he couldn't do the Frost Fury since they looked exactly alike. "Why don't you just... fly away?" Hiccup asked curiously as he watched the Night Fury blast irritably at the Frost Fury's face and saw the reason why.

It was missing it's left tail fin.

The pencil dropped out of his loose grip and he tried to grab it as Jamie kept staring at the dragons, but it was too late. The dragons heard the sound of a pin and looked up to see the two boys. The Night Fury looked at them curiously while the Frost Fury looked at one excitedly.

"Nightlight..." Jamie whispered but Hiccup was too entranced by the Night Fury, who in return was entranced by him.