Told ya it'd be quick~

Last chapter, Hiccup learned he had to train with the others, and that if he did good enough, he might even be able to participate (which would be bad for him, everyone would know it was him and they'd stop it early). WE learned that Valka originally saw the nest before anyone else on a raid in which Stoick's dad died. We also learned about the Red Death and how she was the one who scarred Toothless. Toothless can heal faster, and has extra powers being the Blessed.

(cutting to the point because I need to post this now, next chance would be tomorrow)

Corrupted Winter Command: Indeed~

(psst I read Mythical Beings and I can't wait for more)

Anonymous Noob the 2nd: Sorry if that was unclear/I misunderstood your review, but if you're saying why he doesn't want to bend in the final tournament, I meant to say he can't bend heavily in training! If he did, it'd be visible/noticeable, and it would give him away too early. Also, in the tournamente, he'll most likely wear some sort of cloak up until his final match, and then take off the hood.

Also, guys, school is starting soon for me and chapters will come out slower, so apologies!

Hiccup wasn't asleep, was he? He couldn't remember what sleep felt like. He could see. It was his through eyes, watching him lie in his bed with his face turned away from the moonlight. He could see the air go in and out of his system, causing his chest to rise and fall. But, he wasn't there. He was watching. And in the bed, lie...

It whipped around, eyes such a penetrating sage that they seemed to leave trails of the green light in the air. His teeth were sharp, he could tell as his lips parted in a agape mouth. His pupils were slits, the iris of each eye having taken over the white entirely, and he could see sweat beading on it's face and soaking the earth under it. It disappeared.

Oh. He was in his own bed, now, watching with closed eyes. Yet, he could see everything.

He slowly sunk downwards as his bed gave way to a portal of sorts, though invisible. He floated down.

He pushed himself up and looked around him. He was on dry ground, cracked, even. No grass, but about 5 feet to his left and right were foliage that quickly lead to trees and then to thick forest. In front of him lay a path of sorts to an outcropping. It was a cliff, and past that cliff was the embodiment of destruction. A volcano was erupting into a sea, dragons were flying everywhere, attacking one another seemingly at random, species that even in his dreams were exotic and amazing to him. He looked a little closer, though it was obviously there, and saw a black heap. It was an organized heap though; and he got closer.

The dragon's wings were folded and it sat, it's neck bowed over something lying in an awkward position. He could see an alarming red dripping closer, a puddle that was so pure it hurt him when the dirt started to glide on the surface of the droplets.

He took another step.

Toothless lie bending over a dragon. Oh, that was the source of the blood.

It was a dragon he couldn't recognize. It didn't look like anything he'd seen before. It was a beautiful brown, flecks scattered throughout it's pelt that looked like shards of diamonds. It had frills on it's head, almost like a crown, and it had a draconic smile on it's face, staring up at Toothless. It was then that he saw it.

It looked like a nadder's spine, but it was huge. It was black with iridescent spots covering it, dully shining from the light of the volcano. It was protruding from it's chest, dead center. It was when it's eyes blinked one last time and opened again that he saw something had left them. It was their shine, their life, and it had left. He gasped.

Toothless whipped around, staring straight at him, his eyes filled with tears. They had been streaming down his face, and still were.

His eyes were the same sage of the beast's.

Hiccup gasped as he flung himself awake. His hands supported him as he lay awake, panting. Judging by where the moon was, it would have already been past the raid, but as he looked outside, he found it was raining.

There couldn't have been a better chance than this.

~.~.~

Now dressed in his best apron and after grabbing a handful of scrap metal, he quietly tip-toed down the stairs, praying Loki wouldn't make a fool out of him. It was near pitch-black outside, and he knew all he had to do was grab the candle that had always been left downstairs just in case of this. Honestly, it was for Stoick, but Hiccup was going to use it now.

He put the tip of his toe onto the first step. Slowly but surely, he bent his foot to let his entire boot touch the step. He put his weight on it, slowly adding more and unfazed when the stair did literally nothing. After all, he did live with Stoick the Vast.

"Alright, one step down, only..." His words spiraled off as he looked downwards. They seemed countless. He knew being quiet was critical, but time was as well!

Hiccup braced himself, ready with a reckless plan, and took another step forward.

This time, he had placed the back of his foot on the step and used that position to turn himself around, so he was facing backwards.

He lowered himself and then proceeded to slide-crawl down the stairs, never completely letting go of a stair. It was rather ridiculous, though, as he probably would have made it fine walking.

But, better safe than sorry, right?

He made it down and grabbed the candle. He had to rummage a bit for a cover, but found one quickly. It had been his mother's, and the metal lining the glass had been sculpted to look like dragons dancing. To Hiccup, they had always looked more human than dragon, but it didn't matter really.

He opened the door, bracing himself as the sound of rain quickly shot through the door. He stepped out, drove the door near the frame, and stopped it just before it closed to push it gently and soundlessly.

His father wasn't exactly a light-sleeper, but again, isn't it better safe than sorry?

~.~.~

He stepped into his workshop located just near a watchtower. A fairly new one as well. It was just an extra storage room, but he used it as a forge for training and for making machines, but of course, hardly anyone knew that. The rain pattered so loudly that he could hardly hear his own hammering, so he doubted anyone else would.

He had tons of sketches of Toothless, many for how long they had known each other. He had wanted to fix his tailfin, and he doubted Toothless knew, as he had forgotten when they had spoken mentally.

Luckily, he hadn't forgotten the rods at the blacksmith's after he watched the teens, and could use them to make the tailfin now.

He grabbed the sketches for them and placed them on the table. Most were of designs, but the rest were materials he needed and measurements. He had gotten them once when Toothless was napping after the dragon had told him to practice everything.

Hiccup hadn't learned much overall, but for a couple of days, he was advanced. Toothless had agreed with him on the plan to use his bending in the festival, as it was probably their only and best shot.

Of course there were other options, but Toothless had told him about those.

``Of course, you could just show everyone out of the blue, but that'd end with you and me, eventually, being burned like witches. Actually, I'd probably just leave and wait for the next Avatar.``

Hiccup had been annoyed by that, but by then he had learned the dragon was very sarcastic and liked to joke a lot.

``You could just tell your dad or mom, because you're probably closest to them, but chances are they'd still be scared, and you'd be burned on a pire.``

``If you do it during the festival, there's probably a fifty-fifty chance you'll be burned, as if worst comes to worst, you can just run away. All the other times you'll already be too close to people, but in the festival ring, it's probably secluded so spectators don't get hurt. 'Course, you vikings don't care much about that though, do you?``

Toothless had gone on to tell him that if he needed to, they could pack and leave. He'd understand if Hiccup got homesick and wanted to return, but he told him it'd have to be under a different identity.

Hiccup had then asked if telling them was necessary in the first place.

``If you'd rather just leave them behind, that'd be fine, too.``

He considered that option for a time, then thought about how sweet it'd be when everyone finally accepted him.

~.~.~

Hiccup held up his handiwork, admiring it. Sure, it wasn't finished, but for a night's work, it was impressive.

He was pretty tired, sure, but it was a small cost for the tailfin.

Hiccup froze. He had completely forgotten about training. He smacked his forehead, moaning, and then instantly regretted it and rubbed his forehead sourly.

Okay, this was fine! He could just sleep the rest of the night and...

It was then that Hiccup noticed the sky was more blue than black, and that the moon was nearly gone. He could get in a couple hours of sleep, but only a couple.

He sighed and laid down on the cot swinging from the ceiling, staring up at so. He told himself to go to sleep, but part of him was scared to, and he couldn't tell why. It was when he finally reached slumber that he remembered.

The nightmare.

~.~.~

Hiccup awoke at the crack of dawn. He had slept just enough so that he felt even sleepier than he had before. Hiccup knew that it'd go away soon, though, and quickly grabbed an extra vest. He stuffed the other tailfin in. With a deep breath, he reminded himself that he needed to lay off anything too powerful on the airbending. Toothless had told him he was a natural, so it be harder to use less power than it was to use more, and Hiccup accepted that. He knew he'd be fighting mostly hoping that he could dodge quick enough his opponent would fall out of bounds or onto their face, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was going to be way harder than he thought.

He made his way onto the path going towards the tournament, and was relieved when the entire way there he didn't run into any of the teens. He was even more relieved when he arrived and only Gobber was there.

"So, Hiccup, you excited for training?" He asked gleefully.

"Yeah, woo, excited to get pummeled."

"C'mon, Hiccup, cheer up! If you think you can't do it, just step out of the ring. Oh, and by the way, I'll let you use a wooden sword."

Hiccup thought for a moment. Yes, that was probably a good option. It'd make it look as if he had simply been training to use a sword this entire time! A good excuse to be able to dodge as well, but sadly not one for being able to jump higher. The only downside is he had a feeling the others would either pick on him about it or maybe try even harder out of jealousy, but namely Snotlout on the latter. He doubted even Tuffnut would be jealous, even he'd remember that he could bend.

But, so could Hiccup.

Once the rest of the group arrived, Hiccup was met by an assortment of groans and complaints of how he shouldn't be allowed in or that he would only waste time.

Snotlout looked him dead in the eyes, sneering. "So, Hiccup, are you going to use your forest ninja skills to win?"

Hiccup was confused. Did he know about the training?

"Oh, come on Useless, everyone knows you go off into the woods for whatever reason, but you've started doing it even more lately. Can't wait to see what kind of lame tricks you've got up your sleeve this time!" he taunted.

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief, but Snotlout must have taken it for a sigh of annoyance, because he turned back to him and looked serious.

"Look, Useless. If you even try to get in the way of me and winning the festival, I won't hesitate to knock you into next month. Got it?"

Hiccup nodded, swallowing. He knew Snotlout well; he seemed unobservant and frankly unintelligent, but at the most critical times, he was the exact opposite.

Snotlout turned again, joining the group this time. Luckily, they hadn't been watching.

That was the first time Hiccup realized how important timing was with everything involving Toothless, bending, and the Avatar.

"Alright, lads! Today, we'll be sparring again. If ye hadn't noticed, Hiccup will be joining us today. Now, because Hiccup is...err..." he thought for a moment nervously, "..devoid of an element, he'll be supplied with a wooden sword. Nothing able to inflict damage, just to block blows. Now, 'tis good to note it is not fireproof, so Hiccup, be aware of that."

There was an assorted mix of groans and cheers, belonging to their respective benders, meaning the firebenders were gleeful.

"Our first match..." Gobber stopped to pull cards out from a helmet, one that wasn't his own, though, "...is Ruffnut versus Hiccup! Also, forgot to tell ye, but we'll be sparring within a bracket system this time. After this, we'll start with what ye've all been waiting for; the dragons! Take yer seats everyone!"

Hiccup quickly wrapped up the tailfin in his extra vest and put it below a seat. He knew they probably wouldn't spot it anyways, but he didn't want to risk raising anymore eyebrows.

As everyone found a seat, Fishlegs started chattering about how Hiccup's stance suggested he relied on a heavy attacker, but Hiccup could care less. He was warming up by tossing the sword from hand to hand and weighing it, bending his knees and jabbing a couple of times. To be honest, he wasn't the best swordsman, but as far as weapons went, it was his best.

Ruffnut, on the other side, was practicing by dropping her water into the bucket over and over. She was able to surround her hands in water, like Astrid's, but actually on her hands, like gloves or claws of some sort. And, this had five fingers instead of three.

"Contestants, to your respective starting places!" He looked over and elbowed Snotlout and whispered, "I sound official, don't I? I've been practicing!"

"Let the battle begin!"

Sorry I stopped at such a bad point, but the chapter was getting a little too long! Don't worry, Ruffnut vs. Hiccup will come soon!

Next chapter: Hiccup and Ruffnut's battle begins? Who will be the victor? And, it seems Astrid has decided that she needs to investigate once again. Not to mention Toothless has decided it's time for another spell, giving Hiccup an oppurtunity to ask Toothless about the dream! Find the answers to your burning questions next time on No-Bender Revamped!