How to Train your Dragon
By Thora Diana Haddock
Chapter 9- I Need to Know More
The rain kept falling down harder and harder. I got over to the border of the village. Once I saw no one was looking, I got between two houses and got underneath the edge of one of the roofs. I took down the hood of my cloak, put my locket in my vest pocket, put my long hair up in the style I had when I had it under the wig, and put the wig on. Before I started to head to the great hall, which was to the right of my house, I looked out into the sea. I wonder if Papa is okay, he may get me mad sometimes, but he's still my father. I also wondered when he will get back. It seems like whenever there a search for the dragon's nest, the time when the Viking warriors return home varies. One time, they didn't get back home for a whole year.
I climbed up the stairs to the great hall. I managed to push one of the great doors of the entrance enough for me to squeeze in. I noticed a bit of dust on the floor, I turned away from the other villagers, so they wouldn't see me, picked some of that dust up, and rubbed it on my face in case the last bit of dust was washed away in the rain. Then I turned back around to join the others at the table they were sitting at.
"All right," said Gobber doing a review of what we have done in the classes today, "Where did Asgerd go wrong in the dragon ring today?" Something tells me I missed a lot of the review. "I mistimed my somersault-dive." said Asgerd, "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." I didn't think it was bad at all; I thought he was very good. Not many Vikings around here are very flexible. "Yeah," said Ruffnut, who was sitting next to her brother, "We've noticed." "No biggie," said Snotlout. Oh no, he's going on another bragging streak again. "I could have done that somer-whatever with the reverse rumble in my sleep" "Yeah, right!" I thought to myself. "Don't get cocky, Snotlout!" Gobber said, "That kind of confidence can get you kill on the battlefield." Snotlout just rolled his eyes.
"Oh Leif, so glad you can join us!" Gobber said finally noticing me, "What took you so long?" he asked. "Ah…" I started to said, "I just lost track of time, that's all." "Well we just went over the other classes, and now we're reviewing over the Dragon Class." said Gobber informing me.
"Okay. Where did Leif go wrong in Dragon Training?" Gobber asked the rest of the class. "Traitor" I whispered to him as I grabbed a piece of bread and a mug of milk. Snotlout covered the empty spaces on the bench he was sitting on next to the table everyone else was sitting at to prevent me from sitting next to him. Like there wasn't enough room with his enormous ego there anyway. I think he's still sore about me beating him in Hammer/Ax Class. I walked over to another table where I wouldn't bother anybody. "Um… he was clumsier than my brother." said Ruffnut. "Are you in this class?" asked Tuffnut Grumpily; "He was hiding like a big baby?" he answered. "I was taking a breather behind that weapons rack." I said to myself through gritted teeth. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time." said Asgerd coldly, "In other words; he's never where he should be."
I can't believe he said that! I sat down in a huff; I had suddenly lost my appetite thanks to that remark. "Thank You, Asgerd." said Gobber. He hit the back of Ruffnut and Tuffnut's heads to remind them to watch their mouths. "You need to live and breathe this stuff." Gobber said, and then he pulled out a large old brown book with a spiraling dragon on the cover. Gobber cleared away some dishes off the table and they landed on the floor. Gobber put the book in the space where the dishes used to be. "The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of." he informingly. I had thought there were no books in Berk with everyone being more brawn than brains.
A clap of thunder boomed outside. I clenched my fist a bit, trying not to be scared by the storm outside, make people think I'm a coward, or give myself away. Gobber took a big sigh. "No attacks tonight. Study up." He told us. "Wait!" said Tuffnut surprised as he dropped the knife he was balancing on the table, "You mean read?" he asked. "While we're still alive?" said Ruffnut while her brother groaned, then he stopped and looked at her. "You're not even in these classes!" said Tuffnut. "Whatever!" said Ruffnut upset arms crossed. "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" asked Snotlout imprudently as he hit the table and made a chicken bone jump in the air and land back on the table. "DO YOU EVER THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK?" I asked annoyed. "Be quiet Farm boy!" Snotlout said with a glare.
"Oh," said Fishlegs, "I've read it like seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face." Snotlout just stare at Fishlegs with an annoyed and disgusted look on his face as if he had grown an extra arm. While Fishlegs's knowledge of dragons can be useful, he can sometimes let out way more information than we want to know. "And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week…" Fishlegs continued. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had bored looks on their faces, and then Tuffnut lifted his hand to stop Fishlegs from talking. "Yeah, that sounds great, but there was a chance I was going to read that…" "But now." Ruffnut finished for him with unimpressed look on her face.
"You guys read; I'll go kill stuff." Snotlout said. "How can he kill stuff when he's not ready for that kind of stuff yet?" I asked myself. Tuffnut leaped over his sister to get to the door first. "Hey!" Ruffnut exclaimed and went after her brother. "Oh there this other one with spines like trees." added Fishlegs showing how much he knew about dragons.
The only one left at the table was Asgerd. I was still mad at him for abandoning me at the Dragon Ring to face the Gronkle alone, but maybe I can give him another chance. I got up from the table I was sitting at and walked over to him. "So I guess we'll share…?" I started to asked. "Read it." Asgerd said as he pushed the book towards me and then he got up to leave.
"What is your problem?" I asked angrily having enough of his attitude. I can't believe he's the same guy who said that "Thora" didn't seem like a bad person. Then again, I'm not supposed to be Thora now. "What do you mean by that?" he asked as he turned around to face me. "Being such a big shot lone wolf, that what I mean." I said, "You act like you're the only one in the class, leaving me to face that Gronkle." Asgerd gave me a stern look. "Look kid, only the strong can belong. The sooner you get that through your head, the better." he said coldly. "And another thing, don't call me "kid" I'm the same age as you. Furthermore, everyone is strong in their own way." I said getting fret up with the way everyone keeps treating me like I'm a newborn infant. Funny, ever since I became Leif Anderson, I seemed to speak my mind a bit more. "And haven't you ever heard that there is strength in numbers, or together we stand, but divided we fall?" I asked, "You're not going to last very long if you keep up with that kind of attitude." I added. "You'll do it your way and I'll do it my way, Anderson!" Asgerd said as he turned around towards the doors of the great hall and walked away. "And stop calling me by my last name! My name's Tho… I mean Leif!" I yelled after him.
I had sighed a frustrated sigh. Not wanting to sound rude, I thought I should at least give Asgerd a proper farewell for the night. "So, okay, I'll see you..." the door banged shut before I could finished the sentence. "Tomorrow." I finished. I sighed. I was starting to think he was worst than Snotlout, which was a first. I was left alone with a bunch Vikings that didn't come on the search for the Dragon's nest. They were drunk on mead and some were sleeping on the tables from drinking too much. This really made me decide that I was never going to drink any form of alcohol.
I shivered a bit from the wet cloak I was wearing. I decided to warm up and eat my dinner a bit before I read the Dragon Manual. There might be some information about the Night Fury in the cove. I have to know more about what dragons are really like.
I put my cloak near the side the fire pit to dry, pulled up the bench, sat down, pick up my dinner, quickly ate my dinner, and put my hands in front of the fire to warm up faster. I was deep in thought; a million questions were spinning in my head. A clap of thunder shook me out of my thoughts. The Great Hall was dark, no one was in here. They must have left for their homes. There were only two candles lit. How did they get there? There was a note next to the candle on the left side. I walk over to the table and picked it up. It was from Grandma. It said:
"Dear Thora,
Gobber and your father told me about Viking Training. I heard that you have to read the Dragon Manual tonight. I've given you candles to read by. I've tried to tell you, but you were deep in thought again and I know better to interrupt you while you're thinking. Good luck. I know you'll do great. Your mother would be so proud that you are going after your dream.
Love,
Grandma."
That grandmother of mine has always looked after me since Mama passed away. Besides her, Grandma always supported me, she's more open-minded than Papa. I walked back to the fire pit, grabbed my cloak, walk back to the table, sat down on the bench after I pushed it towards the table, and opened the Dragon Manual.
"Dragon Classifications: Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class." I read aloud. I turn to the next page; on it was a dragon with a large body, medium sized wings, a second pair of wings behind the first pair, a huge mouth and a long tail covered with small back spines. "Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools."I read aloud. I saw a page where a Viking's head popped off as the Thunderdrum roared at him. "When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range." I read aloud. On the next page, there was a picture of a Viking piercing the Thunderdrum in its chest with his sword, killing it. There was a footnote at the bottom of that page. "Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." I read aloud. I've better stay away from that dragon. Then I turned to the next page.
"Timberjack: This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through fully-grown trees." I read aloud. The "Razor-sharp wings" were large and splendid, the dragon had small back spines, it had a lengthy neck, and the dragon had a long tail. On the next page, it was cutting trees off in the middle. "Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." I read aloud. That again, something tells me I'm going to be seeing that "Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."bit a lot in this book. I turned to the next page.
On this page, a dragon with a fin underneath its chin, a huge body, two fins on the tip of its long tail making it look like a fan, and a long neck. It was squirting a stream of water at a Viking. This must be the water dragon that sprays boiling water at someone's face Fishlegs was talking about earlier. "Scauldron: sprays scalding water at its victims." I read aloud. "Extremely Dangerous." I started to read, but then an earsplitting clap of thunder boomed through the Great Hall before I could get to the "Kill on sight." part. I screamed and turned around to face the vast doors. The doors were opened a bit. The wind must have been strong enough to open them and hit the wall. I shook off the fear a bit, turn around, return to read the book, and turned to the next page.
On this page was a dragon similar to the Timberjack, except it had two fin-like appendages on both sides of its head, larger back spines, and it was spraying out something. "Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid." I read aloud. So, that what it was. "Kill on sight." I read aloud.
I skipped ahead a few pages and saw two of the dragons that were common around here. "Gronkle, Zippleback," then I saw some in the book that seemed to be moving a little bit. "The Skrill, Boneknapper, Whispering Death." I read aloud. The Shrill was similar to the Thunderdrum but it had sharper teeth and larger back spines, the Boneknapper looked a lot like a Monstrous Nightmare, but its whole body was covered up with various kinds of bones and its wavy horns looked similar to those of a ram, the Whispering Death had an extremely long body, a large head, covered head to tail with sharp spikes and inside its head were rows and rows of jagged teeth. It could have been the trick of the light of the candle, but I thought the wings of the Boneknapper and the mouth of the Whispering Death moved a bit. These dragons look like tough customers. Then I turned the next few pages.
I've decided to skim through the pages, since things were getting a little heavy. "Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victim inside out." Geez these are some pretty nasty ways to die. There were many different pictures of dragons like: plant-like creatures eating dragons, Vikings killing dragons, and dragons killing Vikings. "Extremely Dangerous,. Extremely Dangerous." I read aloud. "Kill on sight, Kill on sight, Kill on sight." I read aloud. Okay, I'm starting to think that the people who wrote this book were exaggerating a bit.
I continued to skim and turned the pages until I got to the last page. There was barely anything on it, except for an underlined title on the top and a few lines on the bottom. It was the page with the information I have been looking for in this entire book. The information on the mysterious Night Fury.
"Night Fury." I read the title aloud. Then I read the few lines on the bottom. "Speed: Unknown." I read aloud. "Fastest of all dragons from around here I'm sure." I thought to myself. "Size: Unknown." I read aloud. "About the size of horse I think." I thought to myself again. "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance… hide and pray that it doesn't find you!" I read aloud. That doesn't sound like anything like what I saw in that cove. The Night Fury was even afraid of the thunder. How can he be an "Offspring of Lightning and Death" if he has brontophobia.
I pulled out my field journal, opened to the page with the Night Fury, and laid the journal on top of the Night Fury page in the Dragon Manual. Now I was really perplexed.
How can they said that a Night Fury is so terrible, then they have never seen one, have been told what they are truly like, or have been close to one before? It just didn't make any sense at all. I decided to not read the parts I overlooked, since I don't know what to believe anymore. I guess I'll ask Gobber about Night Furies tomorrow. I got up from the table, closed the book, picked it up, picked up my cloak, put it on, put the book away, walked towards the exit, opened the door, and left for my house.
I put the hood of my cloak up and continued to walk. I got to the house and let myself inside. After I closed the house for the night, took off my wig, let my hair loose, walked over to the hearth and put the ashes from the hearth in a bowl for me to use, I reflected on how empty the house is now. Before, when Papa would leave for his expeditions for the dragon's nest, Mama always looked after me, as all mothers do.
I would run around my room pretending I'm on a ship heading for adventures in exotic places. Mama would always smile and laugh warmly. When I came back home from all the rough housing the other kids in the village gave me, Mama would tend my cuts and bruises and hug and kiss me until I felt better. She would sing to me, kiss me when I'm in bed, hold my hand on walks, and give the warmest hugs that made me feel safe and sound. A clap of thunder boomed again, I flinched and remembered that I would get into bed with Mama when there was a stormy night like this. I had inherited my fear of thunder from her. She would also brush my hair near the fire pit and rock me in her chair. She was more understanding than anyone else and she was the greatest mother anyone could ask for. A lone tear ran down my right cheek. Around this time of year is when she died and all of these memories are making me miss her even more. Things didn't seem so bad when she was still here.
I sighed and went upstairs. I changed out of my clothes, took off my boots, took out my locket, and got into my nightgown. I did a quick prayer that Mama will continue to watch over me in Valhalla and Papa will return home safely. After that I got into bed, wind up my locket again, opened my locket to play my song, put it on the nightstand, put my head on my pillow, pulled the covers over me, closed my eyes, and fell into content sleep.
Meanwhile, the next morning on the ocean; Papa was on the ship in front of the two other ships. "I can almost smell them." Papa said while punching his fist on the map which still had a hole in the spot of the presumed location of the Dragons' Nest from the knife he put through the other day. "They're close. Steady!" He stepped away from the map to look at a wall of thick fog. The only things you can see are the tips of three tall rocky structures. Beyond this blanket of fog is where everyone thinks the Dragon's Nest is. After staring at the fog for some time, Papa ordered, "Take us in!" One of the other Vikings said "Hard to port for Helheim's Gate!" Another said, "Hard to port!" Then another said "Steady!" Then they went into the unknown in that thick fog. After you couldn't see them, there was barely a sound, and then…there were shrieks and fire blasts and a single shadowy figure of a Monstrous Nightmare. The ships were under attack!
