Disclaimer: Dream Works and Cressida Cowell own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.

For those of you who follow my other story, I'm sorry to say I need to take a short break on it. The next story arc is perhaps something I need more thought to put in.

Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter for Theft of Fire. It's a major one.

As we entered, the Chief was in this conversation with his advisors over the status of the village, such as casualty reports, property damage claims, the sort of thing that took my Dad hours, even days to do back when dragons used to invade Berk. "...after that, I want Ol' Toothy Grin to move provisions to the south side to make up for the fact everyone one there lost all their food. Now that that's taken care of, we have guests." Then, instead of if turning to more important people like Drago, Eret, or the serving girl who poured mead into his mug, he turned to look at me, his glare almost piercing.

If my life was a Saga written for little kids about my adventures through the Barbaric Archipelago, meeting new and interesting dragons and standing face to face with Viking heroes and dastardly villains, they would say my second meeting with the Skullrock Chief was a violent affair caused by the enmity of me being aw and dragon rider. It would have involved me pulling out a sword to do battle with a man probably a half a dozen times my size, swordsmanship techniques with fanciful names that never really existed, and hammerhead yaks. Well, I'll honestly say that as fun as that sounded, the reality was a little more… mundane. Besides, I didn't exactly have a weapon anymore; mine was kind of stolen.

The Skullrock Chief only bothered to stare at me for a split as if to make sure I wasn't going to set fire to his house, then he turned to Drago and his expression much more relaxed. He extended his hand to the darker man. "Welcome to my home, I trust your stay last night was to your liking."

Drago grabbed hold of the other man's hand and they both shook hands. The dark haired man flashed the Chief a wide smile. "Indeed. Nothing like a good night's rest to liven a man after battle."

"Come, we have much to talk about." The Skullrock Chief gestured for Drago to sit at a vacant chair and the dark haired man did so. Eret and I moved right behind him, since there wasn't any available spot elsewhere.

Chief Slammaface then took a uncomfortable glance at me and I immediately knew what the topic would be about. Sure enough, Drago had the same thought. "Indeed, we do, I understand you want to talk about my...special talent?" A servant offered him a cup of mead and he drank from it.

"Well, after last night's events, I cannot deny how handy it is for some of my own men to take to the skies…" I was going interrupt and say that riding dragons did more or less the same thing, but then again, a dragon rider seemingly started this attack. How ironic.

Drago took another sip and grunt. "Hmph, years ago, I nearly lost my head because I tried showing it to the world. Now, it seems like everyone around me wants to learn it."

"Well, whoever tried to do that was more than a little close minded." I suggested. Dad probably would have threatened Drago's life if he was going to force him into a dragon's body, but other than that I doubted he would have tried to cut the ragged man's head off. Then again, I doubted he'd believe someone like Drago could even exist.

Chief Slammaface glared at me for a moment, but then nodded in approval. "Quite." He sounded like he was strangling himself to death trying to say it.

Drago shook his head. "If that's what you want, I'll teach you or your men, but there's no guarantee you can learn it."

"And why's that?" The Chief raised his eyebrow. That, too, I had to wonder. Was there some kind of requirement that was needed to turn someone else or even yourself into a dragon?

Drago emptied his mug and wiped the his arm against his beard. "You can either learn it, or you don't, but I'll explain a little about that later. For now, I want to know something."

The Chief looked over to his three advisors for counseling and they all nodded in approval. "Well, what do you need?"

"Why are dragons ransacking your village?" questioned Drago.

That actually made me pay attention. Drago was right. It seemed odd dragons would attack Skullrock. "Yeah, dragon attacks rarely happen on that big of a scale during the day or even during afternoon. They usually strike at night to take advantage of their better senses in the dark. At best, you'll get a few daring ones wanting to take potshots during the day when no one really expects it, but you barely get anything that big."

Drago turned to look at me with a small grin on his face. "There you have it, why were dragons attacking your village yesterday?"

Chief Slammaface grimaced at the two of us, clearly he knew something. "That is a story for another time."

Drago grunted. "And the power I have is also a lesson for another time as well."

The Chief shook his head. "You don't have It's not your concern."

I then took a stand and moved ahead to the Chief. "Uh, sir, we both came here under to help you, out of… how many others you tried to seek aid from. I think we have a right to know why you're in so much trouble." Let it never be said, that I can't be the most diplomatic person in the room while simultaneously being the most hated. Maybe it was because I had so much experience dealing with Alvin and Dagur.

Drago bellowed a hearty laugh and slapped me right on the back. "Well said, boy! So, you aren't completely hopeless!"

"Only mostly," I added. Then we turned to the Chief who was starting to look a little green since new ally was now against him and backing someone he didn't quite like.

The Skullrock Chief frowned at us both. "Alright, alright, but I won't say it here… it'll be better I show you."

"And when will that be?" confronted Drago. "I don't have time; I have to search for the rest of my men by the end of the week!"And I had to find my missing friends, but I didn't exactly speak up. The only people who even remotely liked me were Drago and Eret, after all.

"...I need to make preparations, I'll show you later tonight at the Great Hall."

"And until then, I won't be telling you anything." Drago commented. He then got out of the chair and turned to me. "Looks like its time we get working on you."

"Wait, you can't honestly be thinking of letting that… rider learn this is safe?" Honestly, I thought that it was strange that the Chief was against me for riding dragons yet so buddy buddy with a guy who turns people into dragons, but it wasn't like riders saved Skullrock village. Oh, how I wished things went according to plan.

Drago got out of his seat and dusted himself off. "Don't worry, Slammaface, I'll make sure the runt doesn't cause us any problems. Besides, if he fails, he'll be locked up with the rest of dragons where he can't do us any harm." I cringed at his words. Until now, I never really understood that since I'd be a dragon in both body and in mind also meant that I'd be treated like one. That wasn't exactly a refreshing thought, especially since I had an idea of how Drago treated his dragons.

The Chief gave a look of agreement. "Well, then I hope things… end well."

Drago shook his head and then made his way out the building.

"That went better than I thought it would," Eret commented on our way out. The boy had kept his mouth shut during the whole affair, but I knew from a few glances at him that he was on edge during the meeting. He was probably expecting us to break out in a sword fight. To be fair, the Chief was unjustly piling blame on me just because I happened to share a hobby with someone who laid waste to his village. That's like getting mad at someone who owns a dog because someone you absolutely hate owned a dog! Once again, just being associated with Drago was a good thing.

"And I thought it was my job to expect the worst to happen!" I replied. "Hey ow! I bruise easily!" I grabbed my side, still feeling the echoes of pain from Eret's sudden nudge to my ribs.

"I swear, you never flinched at the guy!"

I shrugged. "I've had loads of practice dealing with people bigger and stronger than me." Namely, everybody, but I guess the enemies I've made probably stand out. "Besides, he's no where near as scary as your boss." And he was scary because he wasn't just bigger or stronger than me; I had the feeling he knew way more than I did and that's not something I normally find everyday.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Drago laughed, leading the way.

We made our way to the outskirts of the village, passing by the wreckage and ruined buildings as we went. Now that the dragons were no longer ravaging the down, the reconstruction process could begin. Families gathered around, rummaging through the rubble for any surviving valuables and heirlooms, many though found that nothing remained. It's always a sad occurrence to watch Vikings having to rebuild their new homes on the ashes of the old, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

There wasn't much for me to see there, only the sorrow. On one hand, I was glad I no longer had to see this scene on Berk. On the other, I wished I didn't have to see it here also. Maybe if I had come a little sooner, I could have helped them avoid all this, maybe spare some families the trouble of rebuilding, but now it was just too late.

Eventually, we made our way to the farthest corner of the village. The countryside wasn't ravaged as thoroughly. Buildings were so rarely packed close together, reducing the damage that could be dealt from stray embers. However, these fields were not being used for farming right now. There were maybe thirty or forty cages of various sizes and types. Each held a dragon inside, trapped and unable to break its way free. It reminded me the way things were in the former Kill Ring, only now the dragons weren't kept in the dark. "One thing I don't get though, if you can turn your men into dragons, why bother capturing actual dragons? You could just make more dragons if you wanted to, right?"

"Because capturing dragons to use on our side does give us more bodies to work with, " Eret explained. He pointed out at a Nadder that was walking outside of the cages, marching through and inspecting the various captives. Once or twice, the dragon squaked and antagonized the others. Given that the Nadder was not being bound in anyway nor making a run for it, I think that was someone Drago entrusted a… unique job to. "A good and trustworthy man is can lead a number of dragons more reliably than if we used a real dragon."

Drago nodded in approval. "Aye. It's one thing to remove an enemy in our way, but it's another thing to repurpose an enemy to our own ends."

I thought about that for a moment. If what he said was true, I guess that having a human in a dragon body leading real dragons was a smart idea. Granted, I thought that being turned into a dragon in more ways than just appearance would have negated that advantage, there might have been caveats I wasn't fully aware of just yet. "That makes sense then." Technically, there might not much difference between what I did with my dragon riding friends commanding our own dragons; well, other than the need to "get in character".

Eret nodded. "Yeah, it's a great way to add to our own forces."

"What's left of them anyways…" muttered Drago. He then led us over to an empty cage somewhere near the back. "Alright, runt, better get in and remove anything you don't want to lose…"

"Wait, in there?" I cried. I looked at my surroundings, not exactly feeling comfortable. I honestly admitted to wanting something a little more private, somewhere no one could… see me.

Drago, slapped himself on the forehead. "Just do it lad, you're not going to need them for much longer."

"Yeah, I'll keep your things safe…" blushed Eret.

I shook my head in disbelief. Maybe I was being a little bit of an idiot to forget something like the fact that I'd probably grow too large for anything I'm wearing right now, but I still can't help but feel a little upset that we were in a place where Drago's men could easily look in at me. "But why the cage?"

"You'll try to run off like last time. We just need to get you to stay put to… train you," Eret's face flushed even deeper red.

Drago turned to look at the sun, gauging the time. "Better hurry up, runt, we don't have the time for you to get so petty at a time like this. Once I change you, the thought will never cross your mind."

"But, I thought you were going to teach me to change myself!"

"And I am, but first you need a little more experience, now get in!" Drago shoved my in the cage, losing his patience.

"How long's this going to take?" Maybe if I was a little less hasty, I probably could have planned this out better. The main reason I wanted to learn to become a dragon was so that I could easily locate my friends, especially since the chances of me doing that alone and on foot were spotty at best and outright impossible at worst. It was dangerous out there and I was a boy missing a leg. I probably could get a search party, but I doubted Drago or Chief Slammaface would loan me a few men just to find my friends who were lost in a battle. Drago, maybe if I wasn't already relying on him so much and he didn't think I was being idiotic about my trusting dragons might lend me a hand, but there was no way the Skullrock Chief was going to do it.

"Not too long to get you used to this body, maybe an hour if you cooperate, but teaching you how to change yourself will take longer."

I nodded my head. That was acceptable. If I could learn to control myself within an hour, I could easily begin looking for my friends before lunch time. I had to remember this was not only to help me connect with Toothless, but to also help me find the rest of my friends. Just one of those things alone was worth a little sacrifice. There was no way I could find them alone on the island, not when I was disabled a "Alright just let me get ready."

I did as what Drago and Eret instructed me to do and knelt on the ground. I didn't even have my prosthetic leg with me, but I figure three legs might be enough for where I'm going.

In a long eternity latter, I felt Drago's palm touch my bare shoulder. "Night Fury," he whispered into my ear. Then, I heard him step away and close the cage door shut with a hard metallic clang. "Change."

In a sudden instant, my body suddenly felt like it became engulfed in flames, a powerful burning that felt like my very body was being cooked in a frying pan. I felt and saw black scale, scale just like Toothless's sprouting from every inch of my body. I felt sharp jolts of pain running through my body as extra limbs, my new wings and tail grew from nothing and the rest of my very bones twisted and writhed. I grew rapidly inside, my perspective of the world changing as it seemed to shrink slightly around me. The pain was intense, but short lived enough I didn't feel like passing out. I was honestly used to getting hurt, so a little pain wasn't as big as a deal.

But what bothered me more than what was happening on in my head. It was like I was one of those… metal things that could hold and that one of my Dad's friends wore on the head, but I was being emptied. I didn't remember what that item was and I slowly forgetting about more. The world's appearance didn't change, but how I thought of it did. The thing I was trapped frightened me because it limited my movement and ability to fly, much like how those large throngs of humans kept me trapped last night.

Then, I heard a clang of metal and I turned to find two human males, one elder, one younger approach me from inside my prison The elder scarred me, because I knew he was the Night Fury that pinned me last night, but the younger's appearance was fine, since I knew he was a friend.

I didn't understand the calls they made to each other. I felt like I should, but I just didn't.

Then, the younger approached me with large trout in his hands. He made a noise at me and offered me the food. I never realized it, but I was so hungry, so tired. I bit into the fish and swallowed it in a gulp.

The elder male laughed at himself, but I no longer understood why.

The younger approached me and gently patted me on the head. I liked that. Was this how my best friend felt when… I did it to him?

And now Hiccup is a dragon. Enjoy. You've probably been all waiting for this one for a while.