Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD.

Chapter 12: From Bad to Worse

I didn't sleep so well last night. I kept on thinking about Hiccup's Final Exam, Toothless and Stryka. To make things worse, when I finally fell asleep my worries worked into my dream and turned it into a nightmare.

I dreamed that the four of us were falling into a fiery inferno, the monster dragon right above us and ready to devour us!

I woke up in a cold sweat.

It was already morning. Dread filled my insides so I could barely eat. My parents were worried but I reassured them that I was okay. Just a bit excited for today's events, that's all.

"It's amazing how Hiccup has done so well. You've been training him, haven't you my love?" my mother smiled at me.

I paused in mid-bite and nodded slightly.

Technically, Hiccup was just using what we learned from training our dragons but I guess you could say that I taught him a little bit.

"That's our girl. Always willing to impart some knowledge. Oh Zenna…Elias would be so proud of you right now…" dad said lovingly.

I smiled slightly, because I already knew that Eli was proud of me.

Then my parents stood up from the table. "Let's get going then. Wouldn't want to lose the good seats in the ring." Dad told me and Mom.

My smile faded.

This was it…

A half hour later, my parents and I were listening to Stoick's speech.

"Today, my son becomes a Viking! Today, he becomes one of us!" he boomed.

Everyone cheered loudly…except for me.

I leaned over to my parents and decided to ask, "Mom, Dad can I go see him? Just to, you know, wish him luck?"

Mom smiled and stroked my cheek. "Of course, sweetheart. Just be careful not to get lost in the crowd." She said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I nodded and sprinted over to where Hiccup was waiting for the arena gates to open so he could go in. And not to my surprise, Astrid was with him.

"Odin Almighty, Hiccup I sure hope you have a plan…" I sighed worriedly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Zen. I do." Hiccup smiled before looking at me and Astrid.

"If anything goes wrong…Just make sure they don't find Toothless and Stryka." He said to us, slightly worried.

I smiled, took out one of my battle sticks and playfully poked him in the stomach. "As if we'd ever break that promise!" I giggled.

"Now just promise us that nothing will go wrong." Astrid said to him, softly smiling at him.

Hiccup grinned and put on his helmet.

Just in time too.

Gobber opened the arena gates saying proudly, "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead!"

"Good luck…" Astrid whispered, giving Hiccup's hand a squeeze. "We'll be right behind you…" I said, patting his shoulder.

Hiccup nodded, squared my shoulders and after taking a deep breath, headed into the ring.

Just as the gate began to close, I lodged a rock at the bottom to hold it up a little bit. "We have to be ready for the first sign of trouble." I told Astrid as I readied my sticks. Astrid nodded grimly.

We watched as Hiccup made his way over to the weapons rack, got his shield and chose a small dagger. I had to slightly smile. Leave it to Hiccup to choose the only piece of weaponry light enough for him to hold without any problems.

And then…the dragon was released.

The Monstrous Nightmare had, of course, coated itself in fire and was snarling viciously.

'Oh Gods of Valhalla, please protect him…' I prayed.

That's when Hiccup executed his plan.

And mind you, it was once again an insane one.

The Nightmare began to relax and was now looking eye-to-eye with Hiccup as he slowly backed away, dropping the dagger and shield. I could hear murmurs coming from the crowd.

"It's okay…It's okay…I'm not one of them…" Hiccup said calmly before to everyone's shock, took off his helmet and tossed it aside.

He then slowly brought his hand up and allowed the dragon to come closer.

"Stop the fight." Stoick said in shock and made a move to get out of his seat.

"No. I need you all to see this. They're not who we think they are…We don't have to fight them." Hiccup insisted.

'Almost there…Just a little more and they'll understand…' I thought hopefully as the dragon was just a few inches away from Hiccup's hand. Astrid tightly gripped the bars of the gate.

"I said stop the fight!" Stoick then yelled, slamming his hammer onto a rail.

BANG!

That's when all hell broke loose.

The loud noise was enough to anger the Monstrous Nightmare and it attacked! Hiccup screamed, narrowly dodging the flames as the Nightmare began chasing him around the ring!

"HICCUP!" Astrid and I both freaked and using an axe placed on the wall, pried the gate open and slipped into the ring to come to his rescue.

"Back! Back off!" I yelled, swinging my sticks in an attempt to swat the dragon away from my friend. I could hear my parents shouting at Gobber and Stoick to let them in there.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

The Monstrous Nightmare soon had me and Hiccup pinned under its massive paws. Not sure what to do anymore, Hiccup and I just looked at each other fearfully.

I could feel tears welling in my eyes. Hiccup and I were going to die…It was the end for the both of us.

Suddenly we heard two loud shrieks from above and then part of the arena's metal roof was blasted apart. To our shock and amazement, Toothless and Stryka burst out of the smoke and launched themselves onto the Monstrous Nightmare's back, growling and snapping viciously!

How on earth did they manage to get to the kill ring, Hiccup and I will never know.

They eventually forced the dragon off of us. As soon as Hiccup and I could stand, we sprinted to our dragons and clung to them protectively as Vikings poured into the arena and told them to get out of here.

But then Stoick charged, wielding his hammer along with my parents!

Thinking that they were going to hurt us, Toothless and Stryka threw any attacking Vikings off and lunged at Hiccup's dad and my parents and pinned them down!

"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup yelled frantically. "Don't do it, Stryka!" I screamed.

Then they prepared to fire! "No…"

"NOOOO!" Hiccup and I both screamed.

To our relief, they stopped and looked at us, confused. But before Hiccup and I could tell them again to go, they were captured!

"No don't hurt him! Just please don't hurt him…" Hiccup tried to run over to Toothless but Astrid held him back.

My dad scooped me up and began to walk out of the arena with my mom. I squirmed and thrashed like crazy, wanting to go to Stryka who was screeching like mad.

"No, you don't understand! Let me go! Stryka! STRYKA!" I screamed.

"Put them with the others!" I heard Stoick bellow. My last glimpse of Stryka was when she was put in the cages along with Toothless before the crowd swallowed me and my parents and then I couldn't see Stryka, Toothless and Hiccup anymore…

"Zenna, explain yourself!" Mom said, angrily looking at me.

We were outside the house where Mom and Dad were grilling me. I looked down at my boots, unable to meet their eyes.

"What did you call that Night Fury? Stryka? Does that mean the dragon was yours?" Dad forced me to look him in the eye.

I finally snapped.

"Yes! Yes! It's true! Hiccup and I tamed and trained those two Night Furies! They're our best friends!" I exclaimed.

My parents were shocked.

"Zenna don't you realize what you've done?! Befriending a dragon is absolutely absurd!" Dad said in horror.

"No, it's not!" I shouted back in defiance.

"It is completely absurd, love! Viking and Dragons don't mix. And befriending them? It's completely unbelievable!" my mother agreed with Dad.

Then they turned to leave and go back to the house, leaving me standing there like an idiot.

"Elias would've believed me!" I blurted out.

That got their attention.

"I've been lying to you both for a month and a half…What about you two? How long have you two been hiding from me how my brother really died?" I whispered.

"Zenna, we already told you…Your brother was killed by a dragon…" Dad told me softly. "I know that. But he was doing something before that. You two saw it, didn't you? Elias was trying to tame dragons, wasn't he?" I said coldly.

A moment of silence passed between us. I stared at my parents, my violet eyes showing a mixture of sadness, anger and pleading reflecting in theirs.

Finally my mother sighed. "Yes…he was…Your father and I saw it with our own eyes." She confessed.

I let that sink in before continuing.

"Elias and I always wondered if Dragons and Vikings could live together in peace…When Hiccup shot down Toothless, I went with him. And he didn't kill Toothless and Toothless didn't kill him either. Hiccup bonded with him, befriended him and trained him. I did the same thing with Stryka…The four of us are living proof of what Eli believed in." I told my parents before looking away.

"You can get mad at me, hate me or disown for all I care! But I stand by what Hiccup and Elias believe in and you can't make me change my mind." I declared. Then, my parents said the two most amazing things I had ever heard.

"We understand."

"We believe you."

"Huh…?" I whirled around to face them, my mouth agape.

"You…do?" I asked in surprise. Mom chuckled and hugged me. "You and your brother were always adventurous and curious…" she murmured.

"Aye, you two were…And you, Zenna, are still the adventurous, brave and curious young woman your brother, mother and I still love. Feisty and fierce, too." My dad winked at me.

I smiled. "Well I am a Fiersome." I said knowingly. Then I looked up at them. "They'll be readying the ships to go to the Dragon's Nest soon for sure…Are you two going?" I asked them.

"You've been to the Nest?" Mom and Dad asked me. I nodded.

"Toothless and Stryka took us there last night. Only dragons know their way around there. And Mom, Dad the dragons have been raiding Berk because of their Queen. If they don't give Her food, She eats them. I swear to you two that there's no way you and the army can fight Her. She's as big as a mountain and can swallow a dragon, whole. Please don't go…" I told them the whole truth.

"Stoick will be enlisting us in the army for sure…I'm sorry, Zenna but we need to…" Dad said reluctantly. I sighed sadly before begging them, "Just please don't let them hurt Stryka or Toothless." Mom nodded. "We won't let a single weapon touch them." She promised.

I smiled a bit in gratitude before I remembered something Hiccup related.

Namely, Hiccup himself.

"I gotta go find Hiccup…" I told Mom and Dad who nodded at me understandingly.

I ran off to the arena as fast as I could. My friend wasn't there but Astrid and the other teens were there.

"Where's Hiccup?" I asked, all out of breath.

They were pretty surprised to see me but they were obliging enough to point at the Great Hall.

"Thanks!" I shouted before running off again.

I wonder what they thought of me now…Now that the whole village knew that I had sided with Hiccup and befriended a dragon like him, what did everyone consider me?

A traitor?

A coward?

A mad woman?

When the Great Hall was just a few steps away, I stopped.

'Whatever they all think of me…I don't care about it anymore.' I thought to myself.

Right now, the only things I cared about were Hiccup and our Night Furies.

I walked to the doors, only to jump back as Stoick opened the doors with a huff. "Ready the ships!" he bellowed before spotting me and glared.

I felt my whole body tense up.

'Oh, I am screwed…' I thought fearfully.

But to my relief, Stoick just gave me one last glare and left. I gratefully exhaled the breath I had been holding and composed myself. At that moment, I saw Stoick's expression suddenly change from anger to…regret?

Just as I was pondering on that, I heard a familiar voice sobbing from inside the Great Hall…

"T-Toothless…"

My eyes widened and without a second to spare, I opened the doors. Hiccup was on the floor, his emerald green eyes filled with tears.

"Hiccup! Oh Gods, are you okay?!" I said worriedly.

'Of course he's not okay, you idiot! He's crying!' my mind pointed out but I ignored it and went over to Hiccup.

"What happened? What did Stoick do to you?" I asked him. Hiccup kept on sobbing.

I gently took hold of his shoulders.

"Out with it, Hiccup! What did he do to you?" I demanded.

Hiccup didn't look physically roughed up but I knew that he was emotionally hurt, the kind of hurt I hated seeing him experience.

Hiccup looked at me with his tear stained face set in pure agony but managed to get the words out.

"He…He disowned me.."

My blood ran cold.

Of all the things the Chief could say to his own son flesh and blood…this was the one thing I never thought he would ever say…

I couldn't say anything so I just hugged Hiccup and let him cry it out.

'Oh, Hiccup…I'm sorry I wasn't there for you…I'm so sorry…' I thought guiltily.

"H-He promised me after Mom was gone that he'd always be there for me…Dad…what happened to 'always'…?" Hiccup sobbed.

Finally I got my voice back. "We'll figure out a way. Buddy system, remember?" I told him, gently wiping his tears away. Hiccup stopped crying and nodded.

That's when my anger began to show.

"You go on ahead…I have something I need to do." I said to Hiccup as we walked out of the Great Hall. He nodded and said quietly to me, "Meet me at the highest point overlooking the docks."

"Got it." I nodded and sprinted off.

It didn't take long for me to find the Chief talking to my parents in the village plaza. My rage bubbled up as I walked over to the man I had once greatly respected.

"You! I've got a few words for you, Stoick!" I spat out vehemently.

The plaza suddenly hushed up at my words and Stoick faced me. My parents were shocked at my impoliteness but I didn't give a damn about my manners at this moment.

"I'll see to your punishment when I get back, Fiersome." Stoick said gruffly. "Yeah, yeah punish me however you want! Exile me for all I care! But you better remember what I'm about to say…" I said darkly.

Then I took out one of my sticks and used it to knock Stoick's helmet right off his head! The crowd and my parents gasped while Stoick just stared at me in disbelief.

"You may be a great Chief, Stoick the Vast but you are a horrible father!" I yelled at him.

Stoick didn't even flinch, which made me even madder.

But I just huffed, gathered my sticks and stormed off, leaving the stunned silence of the villagers in my wake.

Things are heating up!

By the way, what'd you guys think of Zenna's outburst on Stoick?

As Hiccup's best friend, Zenna does everything she can to protect him even if it means defying orders and trash talking Hiccup's father. Goes to show you that the two of them always have each other's backs!

See you all in the next update ;)

-GuardianDragon98