CHAPTER 10

"Welcome to dragon training."

The teens eyed the kill ring with awe as they circled and chatted among each other. Gobber had woken them early for their first lesson and they were all buzzing with anticipation. Snotlout pushed his slipped helmet out of the way, rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, for once not sparing Astrid a glance as he and the other teens did slow circles, trying to take in the arena around them. Each one sported a weapon they gripped tightly.

Astrid glanced around, her azure eyes taking in everything as she brushed her bangs out of the way. The others fanned out around her subconsciously following her lead as she came to a stop in the middle of the arena. They were here. finally, after watching their friends and family go head to head with the dragon that had taken so much for them, they could do their part and not just on the fire brigade. They were jittery with excitement.

Except for one.

Hiccup groaned inwardly and hefted his axe higher. He hadn't slept much the night before and he stifled a yawn and shook the last of sleep from his mind. He looked up at the stands and smiled slightly. Nraseri waved at him from his spot on the stands where he had insisted he'd stay while the training run its course. He'd absolutely refused to stay at the forge.

"It's boring by myself," he'd complained childishly. "Besides, I wouldn't miss your first dragon training lesson." He'd laughed to himself as if he found the situation funny, but Hiccup just rolled his eyes. Not everyone could be born with natural skill. Frankly, he was thankful for his friend's support.

"I hope I get some serious burns," Tuffnut broke the silence.

"I'm hoping for some mauling. Like, on the shoulder or lower back," Ruffnut cackled and fist bumped her twin.

"Yeah," Astrid agreed. "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Hiccup muttered a little louder than he meant to. "Pain. Love it."

The teens turned to face him, disinterest and disgust on some of their faces.

"Oh, great," Tuffnut sneered. "Who let him in?"

"Alright," Gobber clapped his hand (and hook). "Let's get started. The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village

Snotlout raised his hand. "Hiccup already shot down a Night Fury so does that disqualify him or…?"

The other teen laughed.

Hiccup sighed and looked down at his feet. It was going to be a long morning.

"And did you see how smug he looked when he opened the Gronckle cage?" Hiccup ranted, swinging his blunt sword in an angry fashion. "He was happy to let us be mauled by that dragon. I swear he's enjoying this more than he should."

"Mhmm," Nraseri nodded, only half listening. They were in the Cove once again, this time practicing with swords. Well, Nraseri was instructing because his arm was still bandaged tightly. Hiccup had been worried about the dragons so soon after the raid, but Nraseri had assured him that they wouldn't be back any time soon. What Hiccup didn't know was that no dragon in its right mind would go anywhere near the den of a Night Fury, or that the same one he'd met the day before was sitting on the ground, teaching him to fight.

Hiccup had been complaining about training for some time now, and Nraseri had retaliated by saying that it would be easier just to let him get whatever it was off his chest if it would help him concentrate later on.

"And did you see how the other teens were talking about at me?" Hiccup carried on. "I have ears, you know. I can hear them. Even Astrid and Fishlegs wouldn't talk to me."

"Well, you did last the longest out of them, save for Astrid, but that's not surprise." Nraseri countered. "Raise the blade higher, you're dropping it and it'll affect your aim."

Hiccup raised the sword slightly. He was holding it in his left hand this time, and he marvelled at how much easier it was to hold. As he went through the motions that Nraseri showed him, the sword was lighter and less awkward than before. It was slightly unbalanced, but the sword was much better than the oversized axe his father had given him which had met its untimely demise in the arena a few hours before.

"'Dragons always go for the kill'. What kind of advice is that? It's common knowledge."

"You'd be surprised. Widen your stance."

Hiccup did. "I've come face to face with a dragon and it didn't try to kill me. That time." He thought about the Night Fury. Its actions still baffled him. How was he still alive? "Really," he grumbled, putting the thought aside for now, "it should be 'dragons go for the kill if provoked'."

"Well," Nraseri said with a sly grin. "You'll just have to write that down in your journal, won't you?"

Hiccup lowered the sword to see his friend holding the red journal in the air. He jogged over, grinning of excitement. "You finished it?" Nraseri handed it to him and he thumbed through it, fingering his old sketches and a bunch of blank pages. "This is amazing. When did you finish this?"

Nraseri shrugged. "After you left, mostly. Not much else to do on house arrest. Gobber wouldn't let me near the forge and Gothi threatened to hit me if I strained my arm. She's feisty for her age."

"Tell me about it," Hiccup said.

He leafed through the book some more. In places where his notes had been damaged, neat writing was scrawled underneath, and a couple new notes were added here and there. It was when he got to his sketch of a Zippleback with a new wingspan note that it struck him that Nraseri's additions was similar to the information that Fishlegs had been sprouting in training.

"How did you do in dragon training?" Hiccup asked, finally looking up when he reached empty pages.

Something flickered across Nraseri's, but he hid it in a heartbeat. He shrugged. "Moderately, I guess. I picked things up here and there while traveling, but I didn't compete like you're doing."

"So you didn't have training?"

"Oh, I trained," Nraseri replied wryly, "just not in the way you are. I had a teacher, but he only taught me the basics, and it wasn't anything like this." He smiled, obviously remembering something good. "I learned how to understand the world of dragons and Vikings as intertwined, constantly changing and adapting. There's this whole other side to the dragons. Once you get to know them, they're friendly. Far from the monsters that people think they are." His smile faded. "No one gives them a chance. All they do is kill them."

Hiccup's heart sank. He set the journal down, guilt gnawing at him now more than ever.

"I have to tell you something."

"Mhmm?"

Hiccup hesitated. Just get it over with, his mind screamed. "I shot down a Night Fury," he said. "During the raid."

Nraseri's green-gage eyes bore into him. His mouth was set in a grim line.

"It crashed in Raven's Point and I… I found it." Hiccup licked his lips, his mouth dry. He couldn't go back now. "I set it free and it got angry and flew off. I couldn't kill it, Toothless."

"Why?" The question was barely audible. "Why couldn't you kill it?"

Nraseri was staring at him with the same intensity that the dragon had the day before. Once again, Hiccup felt as if someone were looking into his soul. It was chilling.

"I don't know." Hiccup fiddled with the hem of his shirt, nervousness and confusion bubbling up in his chest. Why hadn't he killed the dragon? Why had he failed at the one thing that he'd been trying to do his entire life? These questions had plagued him since it had happened. He saw the dragon again in his mind's eye. That intelligence…. Just yesterday, he'd gone searching for some way to prove himself, and that thing had look at him with the same fear and loneliness that had followed him all his life.

"I didn't kill it," Hiccup said slowly, "because it looked as frightened as I was. I looked at it and I saw myself. Does…does that make sense?"

Nraseri closed his eyes and leaned back. He took a deep breath before opening them again. "You could have died, Hiccup. You could have really died yesterday, but I'm glad you didn't kill it. And I also understand what you're trying to say. Night Furies," he paused as if searching for the right words, "are precious beasts. Some say they are the story tellers of the dragons, that if you gain one's trust, they'll show you secrets that have long since been forgotten by these islands."

"You've seen one?" Hiccup asked.

"Once," he said. "A very long time ago. They're all gone now. Except for this one. It moves from place to place, but it's never settled in one place for this long."

"I guess it saw Berk as its home."

"Or it found what it was looking for," Nraseri said quietly. Louder, he asked, "What are you going to do now?"

Hiccup looked down at the red journal in his lap. He picked it up, leafing through the pages again. His next words would change everything.

"I don't want to fight dragons. I'll get through training, but I don't want to win. I don't think I can, anyway." He straightened his shoulders, filled with a newfound purpose. "I want to find out as much as I can about the dragons. I know there's something we're missing and I want to find out what it is."

Nraseri gave him a sharp-toothed grin. "Sounds like fun. Count me in."

And so dragon training begins!

Wow, two chapters in one evening. It's a miracle! I know it's short, but it was done, so I thought I might as well post it.

I'm not going to focus much on the actual training scenes simply just because there's a whole lot more going on in this story. There'll be some original scenes coming up, as with Toothless being a major human character. I'll loosely follow the movie, but be ready for some surprises along the way.

Let me know what you think!