A.N. Hey you guys! I'm back! Here with another riveting chapter. I noticed that my chapters are getting shorter. I will do my best to update regularly and make these chapters longer. Sorry about how long it takes for each small chapter. Anyway, read and review.
Hiccup ran through the forest. He opened his notebook and at each place he marked an x if the dragon wasn't there. He looked everywhere, systematically checking each part. He was getting frustrated. What if the dragon got loose? He'd never get another chance like this. He needed to find that dragon. He snapped the book shut.
"Oh the gods hate me," Hiccup ranted. "I try not to blame the gods, but they must." He turned his face to the sky. "You must hate me!" He said to the sky as if the gods could hear him. "There's just no other explanation. Some vikings lose their knife or their mug, but not me. No I somehow manage to lose an entire dragon!" He slapped at a branch and winced as it swung back and caught him in the face. Not smart. He looked at the offending branch and saw that it was hanging really weird. He turned his face up and saw the tree was destroyed.
"What in Hel's name happened here?" he wondered. The trunk was smashed in half and was pointing into the ground where a large divot had begun. It dragged over the hill and down to a clearing where tied up there was a DRAGON! Hiccup gasped and dropped down. He carefully drew a long knife that was about a foot long, and carefully approached. The dragon was still. He looked it over and saw that it was much smaller than most. It was black as midnight and had little in the way of weapons besides it's claws.
"Oh this fixes everything!" Hiccup said with relief. "Yes! I have brought down this mighty beast!" He stepped on the beast's back and it gave a loud groan while shifting. Hiccup stumbled back and pulled out another long knife. He looked at it again and saw a bright green eye staring back at him. Hiccup replaced the knife and took the other in both hands. "I, I, I'm gonna kill you dragon. I'll cut out your heart and take it to my father and he'll see that I can do things. I'm a viking. I am a viking!" He said before raising his knife. He hesitated and saw the dragon looking at him with… fear? No, he closed his eyes and raised the knife higher and the dragon slumped to the ground with resignation. Hiccup took a breath and plunged the knife down. Into the ground. He gasped. He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to kill this beast in cold blood. He picked up the knife. He turned away and with a roar punched a nearby tree. The trunk cracked partially as splinters flew. He turned and slid down the trunk to a sitting position.
"Why!?" Hiccup asked. "I can't do it. I did this damage and I can't even finish it off." He looked at the knife in his hands. It wasn't like the other viking's knives. This was meant to hurt someone. It was his design for a weapon. He wasn't a viking in the physical sense, why would he be in the mental sense. He looked at the Night Fury and at the painful ropes that bound it. "I did this," he mumbled. He would release it, but then it would kill him. Plus, there wasn't any way for him to talk to it… "Shit!" Hiccup cursed. He had copied some runes into his journal and he quickly pulled it out. He looked through to find the runes he was looking for and grabbed a few nearby berries. He smashed them into a paste and walked over to the bound Night Fury. It saw him coming and turned towards him. Hiccup walked over to the dragon and marked his forehead. It was the rune for understand. Hiccup carefully pushed energy into it and the dragon twitched its nose. Hiccup removed his hand and the dragon sneezed.
"Okay," Hiccup began. "Nod if you can understand me." The dragon gave as much of a nod as it could. "I'll let you go. But if I do, then you can't kill me. At least not right now. If you want to take a go at me later, go ahead. Just not here and now. Nod if you understand." The dragon nodded again. "Okay. Do you give your word not to kill me once I release you?" Another nod. Hiccup drew his knife and began to cut the ropes. One. Two. Three. The dragon pounced, pinning Hiccup to a rock. Hiccup looked up into green intelligent eyes. It had lied. Why would it even keep it's word, supposing that it actually did understand him. Hiccup could only watch as the dragon snarled, reared back, and roared in his ear. Loudly. Suddenly it was gone. Hiccup only vaguely saw the shape through the forest. He gasped and quickly checked to make sure he hadn't been hurt. He stopped and began to laugh. He had told it not to kill him. He had never said that it couldn't scare the living shit out of him. Hiccup continued with his hysterical laughing for a few more minutes before standing up and beginning the long walk home.
Hiccup carefully opened the door to his house. His father was at the hearth with a poker shifting the logs. Hiccup as quietly as he could began to creep up the stairs.
"Hiccup," Stoick said suddenly. Hiccup froze. "I need to talk to you."
"Yeah, okay," Hiccup answered noncommittally. He walked back down to stand in front of his large father. He was still trying to figure out how he could ever bring himself to kill a dragon in cold blood. He would definitely do it if it were a life and death situation, but he had never yet had one like that.
"I think it's time for you to fight dragons," Stoick said with finality, jolting Hiccup out of his thoughts. Hiccup was stunned. This was the same man who earlier that day had been utterly ashamed of him.
"I'm sorry, what?" Hiccup asked, convinced he had misheard.
"You get your wish," Stoick answered. "Dragon training. You start tomorrow."
"Uh, wait, about that," Hiccup began. "Maybe that's not such a good idea. I mean 'cursed by loki and all' probably means that I shouldn't be training around others if at all, right?"
Stoick looked at him. "Do you honestly think that you're cursed?"
"Gods I hope not," Hiccup answered honestly.
Stoick nodded and turned around to grab an axe. "You'll need this," he said as he dropped it into Hiccup's arms. Hiccup had gotten strong enough to lift this weapon without any buff, and was too annoyed to pretend that he couldn't lift it. He held it easily in his arms and without any problems shifted it to his left arm. Stoick was surprised, but he brushed it off without thinking much of it. "When you carry this axe. You carry all of us with you. You walk like us. Talk like us. You are one of us." Stoick gathered his armor and heavy war hammer. "We're going on another search for the nest. I'll see you when I get back. Probably."
"And I'll be here," Hiccup said dejectedly. "Maybe."
"Welcome ta Dragon Trainin'," Gobber said excitedly.
"No going back," Astrid said calmly.
"I hope I get some serious burns," Tuffnut said.
"I'm hoping for some mauling," Ruffnut countered. "Like on my shoulder or my back."
"Yeah," Astrid replied. "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
"Yup," Hiccup drawled as he walked in through the back with his axe slung over his shoulder. "Pain. Love it!" He said with his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"Oh great!" Tuffnut complained. "Who let him in?"
"Uh, Hiccup already shot a Night Fury," Snotlout said as Hiccup hesitated. "So is he disqualified or…?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes at his cousin's antics. He felt Gobber's hand on his shoulder and turned to the crippled viking. "I know ye've been holdin' out on me," Gobber said. "I've been around long enough to know when someone is downplaying their strengths. I'll have none of that here. You go all out or you get out. I don't want to have to save you because you're too stubborn to use everything you have." He left Hiccup and Hiccup allowed himself a small smile. So Gobber had noticed. He noticed a lot more than what you'd expect. Hiccup hefted the axe and stood beside Fishlegs, who moved a half step away.
"Behind these doors are some of the species o' dragons ye'll have ta face," Gobber began. As he began listing the types, Fishlegs began rattling off statistics. At least till Gobber got annoyed and yelled at him. Then at least he whispered. "And…" Gobber paused as he put his hand on the lever. "The Gronckle."
"Wait!" Snotlout called. "Aren't you going to teach us first?"
"I believe in learning on the job," Gobber said with an almost malicious grin. He pulled the lever and the Gronckle shot out. It looked like a scaly, brown, bumble bee. "Quick! What's the first thing you need?"
"A doctor?" Hiccup said with carefully rehearsed fear.
"Plus five speed?" Fishless asked with more seriousness.
"A shield!" Astrid called out. However she did glance at Hiccup and he knew that she wasn't fooled by his act. As long as she didn't blab to anyone, he'd be fine. And he knew she wouldn't.
"Right! A shield!" Gobber replied. "Shields, go!" The teens all scrambled for a shield and Hiccup quickly picked up a heavy shield. Much more weight and he'd have to use his buff to move about. Astrid was second to grab one and she definitely noticed. The twins were next, but they grabbed the same shield and began to fight over it. Snotlout and Fishlegs were last. Snotlout because he was trying to hit on Astrid and Fishlegs because he was looking for the biggest shield. The Gronckle turned towards the twins and launched off a shot. It smashed into the shield spinning the two of them around.
"Twins, ye're out! Each dragon has a certain number of shots!" Gobber called out again. "How many does a Gronckle have?"
"Five?" Asked Snotlout.
"No! Six!" Fishlegs answered eagerly while completely forgetting about the dragon.
"Correct!" Gobber replied. "That's one for each of you!" Another fireball blasted into Fishlegs' shield and he ran screaming out of the ring. "Fishlegs, out."
"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." The teens began to bang on their shields and the Gronckle began to shake it's head in response. Hiccup dropped to the ground as another fireball flew over his head. He saw Snotlout hitting on Astrid again and he smirked as Snotlout got his shield blown off. Astrid gave a combat roll and ended up near Hiccup.
"So I guess it's just me and you?" Hiccup asked.
"Nope! Just you." Astrid replied as she dove out of the way of a fireball. It blasted Hiccup's shield and Hiccup barely tilted the shield enough to partially deflect it, though the handles broke. As the shield rolled away, the dragon flew after Hiccup. There was only one shot left. He just needed to keep from getting hit. He looked at the wall and got an idea. It would be the only way for him to get out of this uscathed, but it wouldn't help him stay hidden. Hiccup ran full sprint at the wall. The dragon close behind. He took two steps on the wall and jumped, backflipping over the dragon. Hiccup landed and raced for the shield. The dragon was confused and went after Astrid instead. Hiccup grabbed the shield and turned back to see the dragon trying to pen astrid into a corner. Sneakily, Hiccup reached into his pocket to grasp his Sting rune. He directed it towards the dragon and let out a small bit of energy. The dragon gave a small yelp and immediately turned back to Hiccup. As the dragon came flying back towards him, Hiccup spun with the shield before launching it at the dragon. The shield smacked the dragon right between the eyes as it launched it's last fireball. Hiccup dropped to the floor and felt his fire repelling rune activate. The fireball barely skimmed him, but he felt no heat as it flew by and hit the wall. The dragon charged Hiccup's prone form, but was still dizzy from the shield to the face. Gobber snagged it's mouth with his hook as Hiccup shakily stood up.
"Go back ta bed ya overgrown sausage!" Gobber yelled as he shoved it into the pen. As he closed the pen he turned back to the teens and then to Hiccup. "Remember, a dragon will always. Always. Go for the kill." He walked off with the others as Hiccup turned to look at the pen.
Hiccup picked up the shredded nets and bola. "Then why didn't you?" He asked. The dragon couldn't have actually been following the deal they had had it? "Why didn't you?"
A.N. The plot thickens! I know that this is about the dragon master but this story is the rise of the dragon master. This is more of a prequel for the story that will be coming out as soon as this one is finished. Please review. Thanks.