Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.
Chapter 7
Hiccup stood alone in Dornar's arena. The alone part had been a bit of a difficulty. Toothless, still chained and muzzled, had been taken to one of the empty pens. He had gone along fine, until Hiccup slid from his back. One of the guards had handed the boy a crutch with a shove and a comment of "There, now it's time for ye to show yer abilities." As Hiccup was knocked towards the door Toothless realized he wasn't staying. He went insane, thrashing and fighting. While Hiccup was almost certain Toothless wouldn't hurt him, he was also certain the dragon would find some way of making him regret leaving.
The arena was far different than the one on Berk. Berk's had been built and carved by Hiccup's ancestors over time. Dornar's on the other hand was far more natural. It had been originally a caldera of an extinct volcano. It was far deeper than Berk's with a gallery carved into the wall of it for the observers. Thick pillars were there to hold the chains that protected the watchers as well as giving them something to duck behind in case of an errant flame. There were chains also over the top, giving enough room for even a Monstrous Nightmare room to fly short distances. There were only two entrances. Tunnels carved into the rock linked the pens together in a common hallway. The other was the main entrance for combatants.
Crowds had gathered to watch. It was rather unnerving. The last time Hiccup had had this many people watching, they'd been cheering, expecting to see him kill his first dragon. This crowd seemed to be equally happy to see him mauled as to see him calm and control a dragon. There were loud bets being made as to how long it would take for him to be killed.
The crutch wasn't as useful as his prosthetic would've been, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They also hadn't given him any fish. They had been "nice" enough to give him a Last Meal and he'd managed to slip some into his vest. It wasn't totally necessary, but he had yet to find a dragon that turned its nose up at a tidbit.
Hiccup steadied himself as well as he could, the crutch being a bit too small for him to comfortably use. While it allowed him to stand and get around it would be useless if he needed to move quickly. He tried to maintain his calm, staying calm would hopefully get through to whatever dragon he would face. He remembered his facing the Monstrous Nightmare, how it had calmed and things had been going well, at least until his dad had smacked his hammer against the bars.
The crowd noise died down and Hiccup saw Avric push to the front. "My people, we are here to see this young man prove his reputation. We shall see if he truly is the Dragon Master or if the Gods shall show him a liar." The crowd roared at the end of this short speech.
As the crowd roared, the door to the dragon's area was thrown open. A Deadly Nadder burst through shrieking. It hopped about, releasing a deadly shot of fire that splashed against one of the pillars. Hiccup almost giggled in relief. About the only dragon easier he'd found was a Gronkle. He'd been worried that it'd be a Monstrous Nightmare, which while normally he wouldn't be bothered, with only a crutch he'd be hard pressed to dodge if it was nervy enough to set itself on fire. Still, he heard a number of shouts from the crowd. Apparently this one was known for having killed the most trainees when in the ring with them of all the dragons they used. It was a known man-eater as well, refusing to leave the bodies of those it killed, trying to gulp them down before the trainers fought it back. Hiccup heard catcalls from the crowd yelling down at him that they were sure he'd taste great.
The dragon spotted him as it slowed its raging. It lowered its head, bobbing as it stalked towards him. He simply stood there watching it approach. While he preferred to walk toward the dragons, standing still was better than running backwards which could be seen as the actions of prey. The dragon stopped a few yards away, chittering and swaying as it studied him. He noticed it focusing on the crutch he held. It hissed at him, and the sound of the crowd rose again at the sight of the dragon's ire. Hiccup carefully lowered himself to the ground, the Nadder watching him. Its head turned from side to side. As soon as he was seated he shoved the crutch away, carefully aiming so it wouldn't go near the dragon. The dragon's head jerked to watch it tumble away. He hadn't known that it was this nerve-wracking to watch the dragon choose to come near, without being able to move quickly if things went wrong. He kept a careful eye on the dragon, ready to roll if it looked like it was going to blast him with fire. Hiccup raised his hands, showing they were empty. The dragon sidled over to where he was sitting, as the crowd seemed to hold its breath. Hiccup's hand reached out, touching the creature's chin as it came closer. He immediately began to rub and scratch at it while speaking soothing nonsense to it. The Nadder took the remaining steps to bring itself beside the boy.
Hiccup smiled, part relief, part the joy he always felt when one of the dragons allowed him near when they had never let another human so close. The Nadder lowered itself into a sitting position, its wings folded along its sides. The dragon then lowered its head until it rested the chin on the ground beside Hiccup. Hiccup took the opportunity to thread his narrow but long fingers through the dangerous looking spikes that decorated a Nadder's head scratching enthusiastically at the base of them. It was a spot that was almost impossible for a Nadder to reach. The dragon immediately relaxed, the only faster relaxation he'd seen was when he scratched that special spot on a dragon's neck. It was doing a low rumbling growl that was the draconic equivalent to a purr. He slipped the fish he'd swiped into the dragon's mouth causing the growling noise to increase from the pleasure.
Hiccup looked up at the crowd, which was silent. Dirk looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his face. Hiccup was relaxed now, his lack of stress communicating to the dragon who shifted to become more comfortable. Ruffnut and Tuffnut would've burst into hysterical laughter to find that Hiccup had been worried at all. The two of them were pretty certain that Hiccup had an almost magical touch with any dragon. He was equally sure that rumor was going to start on this island fairly shortly. The sight of a man-eater lying calmly beside a scrap of a boy would cause rumors to fly even faster.
Avric stood watching Hiccup where he sat next to the now calm dragon.