Hiccup and the others were back at the usual spot for training. The dragons were there as well, waiting.

"Hey, where's Astrid?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, I'd thought since she wasn't with you, she'd be here," Camacazi added.

"She… wasn't feeling well. I had to send her back," Hiccup answered.

"Don't you need an accomplice, though?"

"I do. Let's not forget about Toothless here."

"He can't be an accomplice!" Mogadon said.

"Why not?"

"He's an animal!"

Hiccup looked at him, then shook his head, giving a pitying look. "Dragons aren't just pets. They're too intelligent. They're not just partners, they're too friendly for that. They are family. Once you and your dragon are familiar with each other, a bond will grow, and the next thing you know you won't be able to imagine life without them. Moving on." He made a quick grumble sound and the Monstrous Nightmare stepped up and stood at Hiccup's side. "We are moving on to the Nightmare."

"What! Already? But…"

"Don't worry. They're not the hardest dragons to train. In fact, for vikings, they're one of the easiest. Our brave, crazy, suicidal demeanor attracts them. The more courage you have, the more likely they are to gain a good specimen like this." The Nightmare puffed out his chest at the compliment. "So, who wants to go for it?" There was a few tentative raising of hands, and a lot of dropping of them. Eventually though, one stood out above the others, despite the short person who had it raised.

Camacazi was confident she could train this one. She was determined. The conversation last night with Astrid encouraged her, and she had her mind set on change. She wanted to be better.

"Camacazi? That's surprising but, alright." She stifled a smile at his approval. Walking forward, her legs unwavering despite being a little frightened, she allowed Hiccup to take her sword from her hilt and toss it away. Being without her trusty weapon was uncomfortable, as it was for most people, but she knew she could do this. She wasn't a Bog Burglar if she couldn't do so much as gain a friend.

"What do I do?" She asked, confidence in her voice.

Hiccup smiled, knowing the two would fit well. "Walk over to her."

"But that's not what you did for…"

"Different dragons require different methods. Trust me. Trust her."

Camacazi looked at the large dragon and slowly stepped toward her while Hiccup took a step back. She was now alone with the dragon. "N-now what?"

"Stand still. She's going to look you over. And remember, do not be afraid."

She stood up straight and tall-or as tall as she could-and took a deep breath. The nightmare slumped down, almost as if she were stalking her prey, and circled Camacazi. Every now and then, she would sniff in certain places, nudge a shoulder or a leg. She'd lick a part of Cami's arm or lift a piece of hair. Suddenly, she reared, hissing at the viking girl and lighting on fire.

"Whoah whoah whoah!" Hiccup yelled, jumping between the two. He held his hands up in front of the dragon. Seeing she wouldn't be calmed easily, he took out his sword, made a line of zippleback gas between he and she, and lit it on fire. The blast was small, but it was enough to knock the dragon back to her senses. She folded her wings and nuzzled Hiccup, seeking comfort. Turning to Camacazi, he said, "You scared her."

"I scared her?"

For a small glimpse, a blink and you missed it moment, a twinkle of fear glinted in his eyes. Only she saw it, and she had an idea why. He was worried for his wife.

He pet the Nightmare's nose affectionately before walking to Cami. "Do you have any weapons?"

"No. Only my sword." He gave her a doubting look. "I swear, I was ready today." He circled her, checking up her sleeves and in hre boots to make sure. Suddenly, his nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air. He reached for a lock of her blonde hair, and sniffed it. "What are you doing!"

"Eel?"

"U-uh, yeah. I use it so that it doesn't get so tangled…"

"Dragons hate eels. They're… allergic to it. You can't use this anymore if you want to have your own."

"But…"

"We'll retry tomorrow. For now, let's move onto the zippleback." As Camicazi walked back to the crowd, the Nightmare glared at her.

She glared back.

"Zipplebacks are trickier to train because you have to do both heads at once. So what you need is…"

"A water bucket!" Chief of the Sawhead tribe said, enthusiastic to know the answer.

"No!" Hiccup shouted in the same excited tone as the viking, somewhat mockingly. "What you need is something to grab their attention. What you could use, or at least what most people use, is fish." He patted his lap, signaling Toothless to come over. He opened the saddle bag and ruffled around in there. After finding nothing, he looked at Toothless and scowled. "You ate the fish, didn't you?"

Toothless crooned, giving an apologetic, yet naughty and regretting, look. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Okay, we're going to have to improvise. Thuggory, I'm going to go find some new fish with Clement. That okay?" Thuggory looked surprised that Hiccup had asked him first, but nodded. "Alright. C'mon Clemente, let's go get some fish."

She nudged his foot. "Yeah, you can have some too." The other dragons looked at him expectantly. "And you guys too, I guess. I swear, we spoil you on Berk. Oh, and Toothless?" The Night Fury gave a questioning warble. "Watch over them for me." Then, with the pink gronckle behind him, he walked into the nearby woods to reach the stream.

"Can you believe them?" Big-boobied Bertha said. "The nerve! He left an animal to look over us? As if we weren't responsible, like we were children?"

"Well, can you blame him? It's not exactly like we've been the best to him. He's a new, young chief. He'll learn," Mogadon defended.

"Yes but…"

"I think it's hot," one girl said, and her father gently and warningly whacked her upside the head.

Camacazi was out of earshot. As they argued, she snuck away to follow Hiccup. Something wasn't quite right, the way he walked off, slower than usual. She, in her silent ways, stepped over snappable twigs and made no rustle in the leaves where she stepped. Her movements were careful, and she was light on her feet. She enjoyed burglarizing, it gave her a sense of freedom, like nobody could see her or cared. As a chieftain's daughter, privacy was a thing of the never. So, at these moments when she felt transparent and ghostly, she couldn't help but smile.

Eventually, she reached the stream and climbed a tree. There sat Hiccup, Clemente was by the stream. Already she had caught a fish and plopped it into the saddle bag. "Sorry but, I'm going to have to leave this job to you. It's not like I was ever good at fishing anyway," Hiccup said. The gronckle didn't seem to care, however, and she happily dunked her hot head into the cool current of the river, pulling up a fish and eating it. Hiccup reached down and began to unbuckle his prosthetic.

Cami sometimes forgot he was crippled. It was amazing how he was so used to it, as if it never bothered him. She knew vikings who had fake legs who usually limped. However, this chief never did. Heck, he even flew better than he walked. She wondered sometimes how he could do it. Her conversation last night with Astrid regarding the first time he lost it was strange as well.

"Yeah. When he woke up after the couple months he'd been knocked out, he was limping. He needed Toothless for support. But when he flew, he flew as if his leg were never gone. For him, riding the sky, something he'd only done for a few months, was easier than walking on the ground, which he'd been doing all his life."

She watched him as he groaned in pain, massaging the stump. "Gah. Damn leg." Clemente came over to him and licked hin non-existant foot affectionately. He smiled, rubbing the gronckle's nose. "Thanks, girl."

Now Camacazi was confused. He was hurt, right? By her guess it was phantom pains, so why didn't he just tell them he needed to rest for a while? They could probably do training with him sitting down. It's not like there's anything to be ashamed of. Many warriors in her tribe had to pause and rest, and they didn't care. The others understood. So, why…

"C'mon, we better get going back. The others might be wondering why we're taking so long. Don't want to appear weak." He hooked his fake leg back on and stood up. He almost fell down again-luckily Clemente was there to catch him-and the pain on his face was evident. "Thanks again," Hiccup said appreciatively and let go of her.

He limped away, and when he reached the edge of the woods, before making his appearance again to the others, he sucked in the pain and walked normally.

Don't want to appear weak.

The words echoed in her head, and she shook her head. "Stupid," she muttered to herself and hopped out of the tree. It made her a little sad, knowing that he didn't trust them enough to show his weaknesses, even the small ones.

But then she remembered when he was a kid. He and Cami were sitting together, and he told her how he showed the other kids his age how he liked to draw. The pages were taken from him and ripped apart, burned in a fire.

He didn't know it, but even though he'd forgiven and forgotten, his brain had subconsciously learned from the experience, and he applied it to most of his life. She felt her eyes water. She was going to make Hiccup Haddock trust her lest a dragon strike her down.

Walking, not to anybody's notice, out of the woods, she saw the dragons eating happily, Hiccup giving a demonstration for the Zippleback. He seemed so natural with it, how his movements were in sync with the beasts, moving in a steady beat as if it was a dance embedded into his mind. She wanted to learn that dance as well, and the desire was in the other vikings too.

Every now and then, though, his brown would furrow for a short second before returning to normal.

The dance was flawed, yet it continued.

The dance was a secret, yet it was slowly being shared.

The dance was a safe haven, but would soon be a burden.

And when the end of the day was over, and Chief Hiccup whispered into Camacazi's ear, "Don't tell anybody about what happened in the woods," she knew.

The dance was a teacher, and she a humble student.


Yes, I know in the books Camacazi has a changewing but that's not going to happen in this fanfiction. There's one more thing… the tribes here, there is one more than just Berk, Meatheads, Berserkers, and Bog Burglars. I'm not going to have the other ones in the book because I can't keep track(sadly). There is one I'm making up called the sawblades. They haven't been features so far because we're focusing mainly on the well-known tribes. Don't worry though, we'll get to know them later. Until next time, goodbye.